JetHawks grab rare series win

Brian Carmody got his first win as Lancaster starting pitcher and the JetHawks earned their first series victory since April 20-22

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

Heck, 11 of his first 12 appearances in the league were starts. But that was when he was a member of the San Diego Padres' organization with Rancho Cucamonga in 1997 and '98.

But since he was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the Rule V draft in December and assigned to Lancaster, he hadn't received that opportunity.

That is, until Thursday, when he officially moved into the Lancaster starting rotation.

Carmody made the most of his first start in 14 appearances this year, holding High Desert to one run through six innings to pick up the victory in the JetHawks' 7-1 win over the Mavericks before 2,361 fans at Lancaster Municipal Stadium.

The win was the JetHawks' second straight and helped them complete an eight-game homestand with a 4-4 mark.

It also gave Lancaster a 2-1 series win over the Mavericks, marking the first time the JetHawks have grabbed a series victory of more than one game since they took two of three from High Desert at Maverick Stadium April 20-22. Lancaster did win two one-game sets against High Desert and Rancho Cucamonga on May 20-21.

But other than those games, Lancaster had lost nine of its last 10 series. A four-game split at Lake Elsinore May 12-15 was the lone exception.

Although Carmody was making his first start for the JetHawks Thursday, it wasn't his first start at The Hangar. He received a no decision despite a strong performance in a 1-0 loss to Lancaster starting for the Quakes in an April 3, 1998 game in Lancaster.

Although he might have been more dominant in that 1998 game, he managed to get the job done Thursday night.

Despite allowing six hits and three walks during his stint, the left-hander forced the Mavericks to strand eight runners, including five in scoring position, during the first six innings of the game.

The only time High Desert broke through against Carmody was the fifth inning, when Jack Cust's single back up the middle plated Ron Calloway from second base to tie the game, 1-1.

That run negated Alex Fernandez's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, which scored Shawn McCorkle. McCorkle did a good job of working High Desert starter Matt White (1-3) and ended up with a leadoff double off the center-field wall.

Lancaster regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth, when Joel Ramirez opened the frame with a triple that scooted under the glove of James Rinne in left field and scored on a wild pitch. Cirilo Cruz, who reached base on that wild pitch after striking out swinging, scored later in the inning on Ricky Magdaleno's sacrifice fly.

Magdaleno, who joined the team earlier in the day after being signed off the waver wire by the Mariners, went 1-for-3 with a RBI, a run scored and a walk.

The JetHawks put the game away with four runs in the seventh, highlighted by Matt Sachse's double that scored Magdaleno and Fernandez. Fernandez and Jermaine Clark also drove in runs in the inning.

Derek Bieniasz, who moved to the bullpen to make room for Carmody, pitched a scoreless seventh inning despite walking two. Zach Stark and Donnie Schmidt also each threw a scoreless inning to nail down the victory for Lancaster.

The JetHawks managed 13 hits off three Mavericks pitchers.