JetHawks Up Early but Go Down Again

A lineup that not too long ago was putting California League pitchers above its mantle like so many trophies has turned soft.

The JetHawks, who batted .300 for three weeks, continued to see their average and winning percentage dip Saturday night, when they lost to the Stockton Ports, 8-2, before a crowd of 5,812--the largest since the home opener--at the Hangar.

The JetHawks (19-18) lost their fifth in a row and ninth of 10 games, making Stockton pitcher Steve Woodard look like Cy Young.

Woodard, a 19-year-old right-hander who came into the game with a 5.58 earned-run average and a .297 opponents’ batting average, pitched a seven-hitter.

“It’s frustrating,” said JetHawk outfielder Shane Monahan. “There is no team in this league that should touch us. We’ve got great hitting, great pitching. . . .

“We’ve got to get someone in a corner, like a Tyson fight, and just knock them out. . . . We’ve got to get some fire.”

JetHawk Manager Dave Brundage announced in the aftermath that the JetHawks were to show up for today’s game 90 minutes earlier than scheduled for their first Sunday batting practice of the season.

“I’m not going to watch this ballgame again,” Brundage said. “This is not the kind of baseball I wanted to bring to Lancaster. We should be aggressive on the bases and aggressive at the plate and we didn’t do any of that tonight.”

Besides another loss, the JetHawks also have to worry about catcher Scot Sealy, who left the game in the top of the second with a thumb injury. X-rays were negative, but Sealy will be out at least three days, trainer Rob Nodine said.

It was a disappointing evening for the JetHawks considering how well it began, with the JetHawks showing a glimmer of the form that carried them a 17-8 start.

Marino Santana (2-3) retired the side in order in the top of the first. In the bottom of the inning, Jason Cook singled and James Clifford ripped a triple inside the right-field foul line, scoring Cook. When the ball hopped past Stockton right fielder Mike Rennhack, Clifford scored.

The 2-0 lead broke a string of eight consecutive games in which the JetHawks fell behind in the first two innings.

After the first, Woodard clamped down. He retired 11 consecutive JetHawks before Dusty Wathan’s single in the fifth.

By then, the lead was gone and the JetHawks were playing catch-up again.

The Ports tied the score against Santana in the second when Rennhack tripled home a run and scored on a wild pitch.

In the fourth, Santana’s throwing error on what should have been an inning-ending double play allowed Toby Kominek to score, giving the Ports a 3-2 lead.

Josh Tyler homered to lead off the fourth, Kominek tripled with two out and scored on Rennhack’s single to make it 5-2.

Stockton 8, JetHawks 2

Stockton: 020 121 020 -- 8 10 1

JetHawks: 200 000 000 -- 2 7 3

Woodard (3-4) and Andreopoulos; Santana (2-3), Daniels (5), Gould (9) and Sealy, Augustine (2).

2B: S--Kominek; J--Cook, Villalobos. 3B: S--Rennhack, Kominek; J--Clifford. HR:S--Tyler (1).

Records: Stockton 19-17; JetHawks 19-18.