Trainer's ejection sums up this defeat

Lancaster pitchers walked 12 batters and trainer Troy McIntosh was ejected as the JetHawks dropped their third straight game

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

And that certainly isn't good news for anyone involved with the team.r

The JetHawks, who looked impressive and grabbed wins in their first two outings after the all-star break, now have dropped three in a row after Monday's embarrassing 13-6 loss to the Visalia Oaks at Recreation Park.

"It was bad," Lancaster manager Darrin Garner said. "A bad game overall."

Lancaster fell under .500 for the first time in the second half and dipped 25 games under the break-even mark (25-50 overall) for the first time in franchise history.

Nothing seemed to work for the JetHawks under the full moon on a strange night that was capped off when trainer Troy McIntosh was ejected from the game apparently for talking with the Visalia trainer during a sixth-inning pitching change. McIntosh argued the ejection and even bumped home-plate umpire Cale Smith.

Lancaster struggled in every phase of the game, while the Oaks scored five runs in the third and five more in the fifth to put the game away.

"We didn't do anything the way we should have tonight," Garner said. "It's really frustrating because I thought we were starting to turn things around."

Lancaster should have known it was in trouble when second baseman Jermaine Clark lined the first pitch of the game down the left-field line, but was thrown out by left fielder Rusty Keith when he tried to stretch the hit into a double.

Little did the JetHawks know that would be their only hit of the first three innings. Lancaster actually entered the seventh inning with the same number of base runners (three) as errors.

Unfortunately for the JetHawks, offense was far from their only problem, as the pitching staff and defense chipped in for a truly ugly night.

Starter Daron Kirkreit stuggled in his four innings of work and ended up taking his second loss in as many starts since joining the team June 15.

The right-hander needed 43 pitches to labor through the first two innings, even though he held the Oaks scoreless.

That scoreless streak ended in the third, when Visalia sent nine batters to the plate, four of which got hits in a five-run inning that took the JetHawks out of the game.

Although three of the hits were doubles, none of the five runs were earned because of two Lancaster errors in the frame. Greg Connors committed the first when he had a pop-up in foul territory off the bat of Keith get away from him. Keith ended up doubling in Nathan Haynes with the first run of the game.

The final two runs of the inning crossed the plate when Cirilo Cruz missed on a throw to Kirkreit, who was covering on a ground ball off the bat of Javier Flores.

Kirkreit, who walked four in the game and allowed six hits, threw 37 pitches in the third.

While some of his problems were created by his defense, the same could not be said of reliever Juan Ramos, who was charged with five earned runs in the fifth.

Ramos lasted only two-thirds of an inning, but managed to surrender four hits and three walks during that time before being lifted for Donnie Schmidt.

Schmidt also walked three and allowed an earned run in his one inning of work, as Lancaster pitchers walked 12 Oaks. Schmidt and Ramos walked in runs in the fifth.

Visalia starter Juan Pena (4-3) showed much better control, shutting out the JetHawks for six innings on three hits and no walks while striking out three.

Reliever Tom Bennett walked four and allowed three hits in the eighth, as the JetHawks cut the 12-0 lead in half.