Mavs jump all over JetHawks early, end their season
Sept. 11, 2015
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
ADELANTO — An unsuspecting Derek Fisher was on deck during the third inning Friday night as teammate Alex Bregman swung at a pitch from Mavs reliever Jose Monegro and fouled it back directly toward him.
The ball just missed Fisher, hitting the net behind home plate instead, and the outfielder quickly skipped off toward the dugout, stunned but feeling fortunate to dodge harm.
On the field, the JetHawks didn’t achieve much of that during a 12-5 Cal League South Division Mini-Series Game 3 loss that got out of hand in a hurry and ended the 2014 champions’ season.
“Tonight we just came up short,” JetHawks third baseman J.D. Davis said after the end of the best-of-three series. “They came out swinging, scored 11 runs on us real quick and their pitching staff just held us. We couldn’t get rhythm going or anything. Hats off to them.”
It all started with a first inning that Lancaster right-handed starter Akeem Bostick departed after giving up three hits, two walks and five runs (four earned) while recording only one out. Jordan Mills entered and recorded the next two outs to limit the damage.
“I just felt like (the Mavericks) were on tonight,” Bostick said. “I made some pretty good pitches and they just got to them.”
The JetHawks had rallied from an identical deficit during Game 1 of the series, a 9-7 win on Wednesday at The Hangar. But after High Desert added six more runs in the second and knocked Mills out, the writing was on the wall even for the most potent offense in the league.
Keegan Yuhl, the starter on Wednesday who had to leave two outs into that game, relieved Mills with the JetHawks trailing 8-0 and men at first and second and no outs in the frame. David Lyon would take the right-hander deep to right field to make it 11-0 High Desert.
“Eleven-nothing, that’s hard to go against,” Davis said. “It’s hard, but there’s nothing you can do, you just got to chip away.”
Delivered a handful of mighty blows to start the game, the JetHawks punched back by scoring two runs in the third, another one in the fourth and a pair more in the ninth.
It would hardly be enough, but it gave first-year manager Omar Lopez a silver lining following a rough end to the year.
“I give a lot of credit to those kids,” Lopez said. “Even (after) what happened in the first two innings, they competed, they fought. Even in the last inning we got some guys on base. That shows me they go about their business, they’re professionals.”
The JetHawks out-hit the Mavs 10-9, led by James Ramsay’s 3-for-5 night. Sean McMullen went 2-for-4 while Bregman, Fisher, Ronnie Mitchell and Mott Hyde each picked up a hit.
Bostick took the loss and Mills gave up five runs (four earned) on three hits. Yuhl went three innings, gave up two hits and a run and Enrique Chavez pitched four innings, giving up one run on one hit and a walk.
It was a peculiar night from the beginning at Heritage Field, where the JetHawks lost for a seventh consecutive time dating back to the first half of the season.
After the Mavericks went up 5-0 in the first, Davis — who’d hit a homer apiece in Games 1 and 2 — was hit square on the back by a pitch from righty David Perez to lead off the second, which led to an immediate ejection from umpire Andrew Chesnut.
The quick trigger infuriated Mavs manager Spike Owen, who got in the face of Chesnut and was thrown out of the game.
But the madness wasn’t over. An angry Perez came back on the field carrying the dugout trash can and emptied its contents near third base before dropping it there and storming off. Bat boys had to come in to clean up Perez’s mess before the game could resume.
“I have never seen that, only seen it on TV,” Davis said. “I didn’t think it was intentional. I thought it was just the drama of going back and forth with these rivals.”
Not too long after, the JetHawks were the ones looking to clean up a double-digit mess. Their pitching would only allow two hits, a walk and a run after the second, but the offense could not rally them this time.
With two outs in the ninth, the JetHawks picked up consecutive hits for the first time since the fourth inning, scoring a run and making the Mavericks wait for an inevitable celebration.
Marc Wik then walked and Ramsay singled in Lancaster's final run of the year before Bregman grounded out.
And so ended the championship defense for the JetHawks, one that took place on a night where little went right but that saw plenty of development for many of the members of the Houston Astros’ farm system.
"It’s been a very productive year. I’m happy and I’m proud," Lopez said.
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
ADELANTO — An unsuspecting Derek Fisher was on deck during the third inning Friday night as teammate Alex Bregman swung at a pitch from Mavs reliever Jose Monegro and fouled it back directly toward him.
The ball just missed Fisher, hitting the net behind home plate instead, and the outfielder quickly skipped off toward the dugout, stunned but feeling fortunate to dodge harm.
On the field, the JetHawks didn’t achieve much of that during a 12-5 Cal League South Division Mini-Series Game 3 loss that got out of hand in a hurry and ended the 2014 champions’ season.
“Tonight we just came up short,” JetHawks third baseman J.D. Davis said after the end of the best-of-three series. “They came out swinging, scored 11 runs on us real quick and their pitching staff just held us. We couldn’t get rhythm going or anything. Hats off to them.”
It all started with a first inning that Lancaster right-handed starter Akeem Bostick departed after giving up three hits, two walks and five runs (four earned) while recording only one out. Jordan Mills entered and recorded the next two outs to limit the damage.
“I just felt like (the Mavericks) were on tonight,” Bostick said. “I made some pretty good pitches and they just got to them.”
The JetHawks had rallied from an identical deficit during Game 1 of the series, a 9-7 win on Wednesday at The Hangar. But after High Desert added six more runs in the second and knocked Mills out, the writing was on the wall even for the most potent offense in the league.
Keegan Yuhl, the starter on Wednesday who had to leave two outs into that game, relieved Mills with the JetHawks trailing 8-0 and men at first and second and no outs in the frame. David Lyon would take the right-hander deep to right field to make it 11-0 High Desert.
“Eleven-nothing, that’s hard to go against,” Davis said. “It’s hard, but there’s nothing you can do, you just got to chip away.”
Delivered a handful of mighty blows to start the game, the JetHawks punched back by scoring two runs in the third, another one in the fourth and a pair more in the ninth.
It would hardly be enough, but it gave first-year manager Omar Lopez a silver lining following a rough end to the year.
“I give a lot of credit to those kids,” Lopez said. “Even (after) what happened in the first two innings, they competed, they fought. Even in the last inning we got some guys on base. That shows me they go about their business, they’re professionals.”
The JetHawks out-hit the Mavs 10-9, led by James Ramsay’s 3-for-5 night. Sean McMullen went 2-for-4 while Bregman, Fisher, Ronnie Mitchell and Mott Hyde each picked up a hit.
Bostick took the loss and Mills gave up five runs (four earned) on three hits. Yuhl went three innings, gave up two hits and a run and Enrique Chavez pitched four innings, giving up one run on one hit and a walk.
It was a peculiar night from the beginning at Heritage Field, where the JetHawks lost for a seventh consecutive time dating back to the first half of the season.
After the Mavericks went up 5-0 in the first, Davis — who’d hit a homer apiece in Games 1 and 2 — was hit square on the back by a pitch from righty David Perez to lead off the second, which led to an immediate ejection from umpire Andrew Chesnut.
The quick trigger infuriated Mavs manager Spike Owen, who got in the face of Chesnut and was thrown out of the game.
But the madness wasn’t over. An angry Perez came back on the field carrying the dugout trash can and emptied its contents near third base before dropping it there and storming off. Bat boys had to come in to clean up Perez’s mess before the game could resume.
“I have never seen that, only seen it on TV,” Davis said. “I didn’t think it was intentional. I thought it was just the drama of going back and forth with these rivals.”
Not too long after, the JetHawks were the ones looking to clean up a double-digit mess. Their pitching would only allow two hits, a walk and a run after the second, but the offense could not rally them this time.
With two outs in the ninth, the JetHawks picked up consecutive hits for the first time since the fourth inning, scoring a run and making the Mavericks wait for an inevitable celebration.
Marc Wik then walked and Ramsay singled in Lancaster's final run of the year before Bregman grounded out.
And so ended the championship defense for the JetHawks, one that took place on a night where little went right but that saw plenty of development for many of the members of the Houston Astros’ farm system.
"It’s been a very productive year. I’m happy and I’m proud," Lopez said.