JetHawks light up Quakes

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

But the standing-room-only crowd at Lancaster Municipal Stadium was treated with an early appetizer by the Lancaster JetHawks and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

The first six runs scored in Saturday's game crossed the plate via the home run. At press time entering the seventh inning, the JetHawks held a 5-3 advantage on the scoreboard and a 3-2 lead in the homer department.

That was much to the delight of the large pre-Independence Day crowd at The Hangar. The JetHawks set a new single-game attendance record with Saturday's crowd of 7,097.

The JetHawks broke the mark of 7,071 they set in their July 3 fireworks game last season.

Coincidentally, the Quakes also were in town for that game. The JetHawks staged a ninth-inning comeback in that game, erasing a two-run deficit and stealing an 8-7 victory.

Saturday, the JetHawks started their comeback much earlier.

Rancho Cucamonga took advantage of the early struggles of Lancaster starter Daron Kirkreit to claim a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

After allowing back-to-back singles to Andy Wilson and Jack Wickersham to open the game, Kirkreit got a double-play ball off Alex Pelaez. But he fell behind cleanup hitter Graham Koonce 3-0.

Koonce made him pay with his 11th home run of the season, which he blasted just to the right of the hitters' backdrop in center field.

Koonce added a second home run, a solo shot to left-center, in the sixth inning.

Lancaster loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning, but came up empty. But Matt Sachse made up for that when he crushed Jeremy Fikac's first pitch of the second inning off the scoreboard in left-center field to draw the JetHawks within 2-1. The homer was Sachse's third in his 33 Cal League games this season.

Lancaster claimed the lead in the third when Jermaine Clark blooped a single into left field and came home on Greg Connors' rocket over the left-center field wall. Connors became the first JetHawk to reach double figures in home runs with the blast.

Two batters later, Jason Regan tied James Clifford for the JetHawks' career home run lead with his solo blast to left field. Regan has hit 45 homers over three seasons with the JetHawks, and three in 10 games this season.

Lancaster was able to hold on to the lead thanks to a sudden turnaround by Kirkreit. After allowing the two runs on three hits and a walk in the first inning and the first two batters of the second inning to reach base on singles, the right-hander settled down to retire 12 of the last 15 batters he faced.

Only Koonce's home run, a third-inning walk and an infield single by Wickersham in the fifth broke the string.

Kirkreit left in line for his first victory in three starts since joining the team June 15. He allowed the three earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out six in 5 innings of work.

Lancaster added a run in the fifth inning when Cirilo Cruz drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Tom Szymborski. But once again, Lancaster left the bases loaded.