Early lead disappears as 'Hawks fail to be spoiler

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

But not in this way.

The JetHawks are in the midst of a streak in which they will play 13 consecutive games against the two teams competing for the firsthalf division title - San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga.

With Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Stampede before 1,873 fans at San Bernardino Municipal Stadium, Lancaster now has lost the first six games of that string.

"Our goal is to see if we can knock somebody off and keep them from winning the division," JetHawks manager Darrin Garner said. "We'd like to knock this team off. You could see today, these guys were excited and were in the game. We'd like to beat (former JetHawks manager Rick Burleson)."

San Bernardino (33-27) moved within one game of division-leading Rancho with the win.

Meanwhile, the JetHawks dropped their season-high sixth straight after losing five in a row to the Quakes during the last week. Lancaster (20-40), which has the lowest winning percentage (.333) among minor league teams affiliated with a major league organization, dropped 20 games below .500 for the first time in franchise history.

It looked early like the JetHawks might reverse their fortunes. Despite facing Randey Dorame, the league's top pitcher in terms of ERA (1.42 entering the game), Lancaster grabbed the early lead.

"We came to play," Garner said. "These guys were aggressive at the plate against a very good pitcher."

After Joel Ramirez opened the game with a single back up the middle, Gerald Eady tripled him in with a shot into the left-center field gap. Eady also scored on Mike Marchiano's sacrifice fly to give the JetHawks a 2-0 lead.

But that was all the Lancaster offense would get off Dorame (6-2) until the eighth inning.

Dorame retired 18 of the next 22 batters. Twelve of those 18 outs came via strikeout, which was a season high for the left-hander from Huatabambo, Mexico.

Lancaster, which struck out 15 times in the game, finally got to Dorame again in the eighth after he already had thrown 103 pitches and held a 5-2 lead, as Rafael Lopez singled and Matt Sachse doubled to open the frame.

That ended Dorame's night, one in which he allowed seven hits and only one walk in seven-plus innings.

Pinch-hitter Jermaine Clark singled back up the middle to score both Lopez and Sachse, but the JetHawks squandered an excellent chance to tie the game and possibly take the lead.

Tim Harrell, who came on to relieve Dorame, walked Eady to put the potential game-tying run on second base and the winning run on first. But with a 3-1 count to Marchiano, the JetHawks tried a hit-and-run. Marchiano couldn't make contact and Clark ended up being thrown out at third. It was the third baserunner the JetHawks had erased on the night.

"I had two burners on," Garner said of the play. "I told you I was going to be aggressive. Jermaine got a good jump, but it was a good throw and it got him. That's the way things have been going for us."

Marchiano struck out on the next pitch, and Cirilo Cruz Jr. flew out with two runners on to end the scoring threat with Lancaster still trailing 5-4.

"We put ourselves in position to win," Marchiano said. "We just didn't finish it off."

The Stampede grabbed the lead off Lancaster reliever Donnie Schmidt (0-2) in the sixth inning on two hits and three walks. But the biggest part of the four-run rally was a throwing error by center fielder Harvey Hargrove on a single by Will McCrotty.

McCrotty's hit scored Jason Brown, but Hargrove's throw from the outfield curved away from the cutoff man and bounded into the third-base dugout, allowing Nicholas Theodorou to trot home with what proved to be the winning run.