JetHawks fall to Cal League-worst Blaze in forgettable night
Aug. 5, 2015
ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER — As Ruben Castro swung and missed on a one-strike pitch and the bat escaped his hands and landed against the JetHawks’ dugout netting for a third time on Wednesday night, the catcher’s inability to hold on to the club drew some laughter from the stands.
On the very next pitch, Castro again swung and lost the bat. This time it landed in the stands and nearly hit a fan, and the retired batter walked back to the dugout in distress.
No laughs were had after this one. Truth be told, very little was amusing for the JetHawks on a night where the Cal League North-worst Blaze handled them in a 12-5 defeat that sent Lancaster to its 17th loss in its last 24 games.
“It’s just frustrating, it really is,” said JetHawks third baseman J.D. Davis, who hit his 18th homer of the season in the rubber game of the three-game set. “No one likes to lose. We all want to win, but it’s just baseball.”
After snapping a five-game losing streak with a 10-2 win on Tuesday, the JetHawks were looking to take command of their season again against a team that is last in the standings and in just about every offensive category in the book.
But starting with the ejection of designated hitter Chase McDonald after he struck out and apparently said something to umpire Jon Felczak in the second inning, the JetHawks were in for forgettable night.
Ahead 3-2 after a Marc Wik RBI double to center in the third inning, Lancaster (17-22, 54-55) fell behind for good in the next frame, one where Bakersfield sent 11 men to the plate and drove in seven of them.
“It’s just the way it goes,” Davis said. “We can kill them one game and then they come out and roll us tonight, so it is what is.”
After retiring two of the first three batters he faced in the top of the fourth, JetHawks starter David Paulino was unable to record another out.
With a man at second base, Paulino walked the next two Bakersfield batters to load the bases. Nelson Ward then cleared them with a triple to deep center to give the Blaze a 5-3 lead.
The right-hander next hit Tyler O’Neill with a pitch and Austin Wilson drove him and Ward home with the Blaze’s second triple of the inning, this one to right field for a 7-3 lead.
That was it for Paulino, who gave up eight runs on seven hits and three walks in 3.2 innings.
Relieving him was left-hander Michael Freeman, who immediately gave up a two-run shot to left to Kyle Petty for a 9-3 Blaze lead.
In the fifth, Freeman gave up a couple of walks to load the bases with two outs, but he escaped the jam with no further damage. He went 1.1. innings and gave up a run on three hits and two walks.
Davis brought the JetHawks a run closer with a shot to center field to lead off the bottom of the fifth. The next two JetHawks were retired before the next three singled, with Castro driving in Mott Hyde to cut the lead to 9-5.
That would be the last run of the night for Lancaster, but Bakersfield, a team that totaled 23 runs in three games at The Hangar, wasn’t done.
O’Neill led off the top of the eighth with a single to left off new JetHawks reliever Jordan Mills and came in to score on a Wilson double down the left-field line. Mills then walked Kyle Petty and gave up a two-run double to Rayder Ascanio, again down the left-field line, for the 12th run of the night for the once-offensively-challenged Blaze.
In the last gasp of the night, Lancaster loaded the bases in the bottom of the night with two outs and Castro came to bat.
After batting barehanded throughout the night, Castro wore gloves this time to avoid the bat escaping his grasp again. It worked, but he grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.
James Ramsay went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the JetHawks, who had 14 hits. For Bakersfield, which also totaled 14 hits, Ward had four RBIs and Wilson and Ascanio added three apiece.
Having missed a chance to gain some ground in the standings against the bottom-feeder of the Cal League North, the JetHawks now face first-place High Desert in a four-game series starting tonight.
“We’ve been kind of up and down. We just need to figure out,” Davis said. “We’ve got time.
“We’re still in striking distance.”
There are 31 games left in the regular season for the JetHawks, who are now in fourth place in the South. With each loss, that distance grows, and the hopes of defending their Cal League banner dwindle.
ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER — As Ruben Castro swung and missed on a one-strike pitch and the bat escaped his hands and landed against the JetHawks’ dugout netting for a third time on Wednesday night, the catcher’s inability to hold on to the club drew some laughter from the stands.
On the very next pitch, Castro again swung and lost the bat. This time it landed in the stands and nearly hit a fan, and the retired batter walked back to the dugout in distress.
No laughs were had after this one. Truth be told, very little was amusing for the JetHawks on a night where the Cal League North-worst Blaze handled them in a 12-5 defeat that sent Lancaster to its 17th loss in its last 24 games.
“It’s just frustrating, it really is,” said JetHawks third baseman J.D. Davis, who hit his 18th homer of the season in the rubber game of the three-game set. “No one likes to lose. We all want to win, but it’s just baseball.”
After snapping a five-game losing streak with a 10-2 win on Tuesday, the JetHawks were looking to take command of their season again against a team that is last in the standings and in just about every offensive category in the book.
But starting with the ejection of designated hitter Chase McDonald after he struck out and apparently said something to umpire Jon Felczak in the second inning, the JetHawks were in for forgettable night.
Ahead 3-2 after a Marc Wik RBI double to center in the third inning, Lancaster (17-22, 54-55) fell behind for good in the next frame, one where Bakersfield sent 11 men to the plate and drove in seven of them.
“It’s just the way it goes,” Davis said. “We can kill them one game and then they come out and roll us tonight, so it is what is.”
After retiring two of the first three batters he faced in the top of the fourth, JetHawks starter David Paulino was unable to record another out.
With a man at second base, Paulino walked the next two Bakersfield batters to load the bases. Nelson Ward then cleared them with a triple to deep center to give the Blaze a 5-3 lead.
The right-hander next hit Tyler O’Neill with a pitch and Austin Wilson drove him and Ward home with the Blaze’s second triple of the inning, this one to right field for a 7-3 lead.
That was it for Paulino, who gave up eight runs on seven hits and three walks in 3.2 innings.
Relieving him was left-hander Michael Freeman, who immediately gave up a two-run shot to left to Kyle Petty for a 9-3 Blaze lead.
In the fifth, Freeman gave up a couple of walks to load the bases with two outs, but he escaped the jam with no further damage. He went 1.1. innings and gave up a run on three hits and two walks.
Davis brought the JetHawks a run closer with a shot to center field to lead off the bottom of the fifth. The next two JetHawks were retired before the next three singled, with Castro driving in Mott Hyde to cut the lead to 9-5.
That would be the last run of the night for Lancaster, but Bakersfield, a team that totaled 23 runs in three games at The Hangar, wasn’t done.
O’Neill led off the top of the eighth with a single to left off new JetHawks reliever Jordan Mills and came in to score on a Wilson double down the left-field line. Mills then walked Kyle Petty and gave up a two-run double to Rayder Ascanio, again down the left-field line, for the 12th run of the night for the once-offensively-challenged Blaze.
In the last gasp of the night, Lancaster loaded the bases in the bottom of the night with two outs and Castro came to bat.
After batting barehanded throughout the night, Castro wore gloves this time to avoid the bat escaping his grasp again. It worked, but he grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.
James Ramsay went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the JetHawks, who had 14 hits. For Bakersfield, which also totaled 14 hits, Ward had four RBIs and Wilson and Ascanio added three apiece.
Having missed a chance to gain some ground in the standings against the bottom-feeder of the Cal League North, the JetHawks now face first-place High Desert in a four-game series starting tonight.
“We’ve been kind of up and down. We just need to figure out,” Davis said. “We’ve got time.
“We’re still in striking distance.”
There are 31 games left in the regular season for the JetHawks, who are now in fourth place in the South. With each loss, that distance grows, and the hopes of defending their Cal League banner dwindle.