JETHAWK REPORT : Moore Looking to Leave Lasting Impression

Left-handed pitcher Trey Moore will make his final regular season appearance tonight, capping a season in which he began in double A as a top prospect and finished in Class A as a player at a crossroads.

“This is huge,” Moore said of the start tonight. “The last thing people see is what they remember. Maybe a positive will overshadow the first half of the season.”

After going 1-7 with a 7.71 earned-run average at double A Port City, Moore came back to the California League in June. He’s 6-5 with a 4.33 ERA with the JetHawks.

Moore, a second-round pick out of Texas A&M; in 1994, is not looking at this as a lost season.

“Everything happens for a reason, I’m a strong believer in that,” he said.

“This teaches me something. I was cruising along until I hit this speed bump. I think experiencing failure is something I can learn from.”

Part of Moore’s learning experience has been learning to pitch without his best fastball, which has gone from about 92 to 88 mph since last season, Manager Dave Brundage said.

Moore has been bothered by tendinitis.

“After he has his fastball back, he’s going to understand a valuable lesson,” Brundage said. “He’s going to know how to pitch.”

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Catcher Dusty Wathan took batting practice on Wednesday for the first time since getting hit on the left elbow by a pitch on Friday night.

By losing Wathan temporarily, the JetHawks not only were without a quality catcher, but he was hitting .302 in the second half.

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This from the Statistics Can Show Anything Dept.: JetHawk relief pitcher John Thompson converted his ninth consecutive save opportunity on Wednesday night. Thompson has not blown a save since May 26, but has a 6.29 ERA and a 2-4 record in that span.

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Tonight’s Game:

JetHawks (Trey Moore, 6-5, 4.33) at San Bernardino (Dan Camacho, 4-4, 6.62), 7:05.