JetHawks' offense explodes in 22-5 obliteration of HD
May 21, 2015
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER — It was only the third inning on Thursday night at The Hangar, and the home fans were already guaranteed free tacos.
In a cold, windy night, the JetHawks hadn't even hit a home run, yet they had scored 10 runs one out into the third against High Desert. Two outs later, they had somehow upstaged an explosive second frame in which they batted around and scored seven runs.
“We came out aggressive, especially early in the game, which is the most important part of the game,” JetHawks manager Omar Lopez said.
After a nine-run third frame where the JetHakws sent 13 batters to the plate and outfielder Danry Vasquez picked up two hits, the exclamation point of an emphatic 22-5 win against High Desert, things were simply out of control.
Nearly two hours had elapsed since the first pitch was thrown, and Lancaster (21-20), which totaled a season-high 19 hits, had sent 32 batters to the plate and led 18-4.
“We needed a game like that, we needed to break out, score some runs,” said JetHawks designated hitter A.J. Reed, who went 3-for-6 with a double and a homer, his 11th of the season, and four RBIs.
Lancaster gave two-time Dodgers’ World Series champion second baseman Steve Sax, who was at the park signing autographs as part of the JetHawks' Superstar Series, plenty of entertainment in the form of an annihilation of the Mavericks (20-20) in the rubber game of a three-game set that looked as if it was going to last into the next day.
The first inning, which finished with the JetHawks trailing 3-2, lasted 34 minutes. Then it took High Desert 54 pitches to get out of the top of the second, before Lancaster went nuclear in the third.
“Definitely those first three innings we were like, ‘This is going to be the longest game ever,’” Reed said. “But then the pace picked up.”
It all started innocently enough in the third, with a Vasquez double to center field off agonizing Mavericks reliever Ryne Slack and a walk by Jose Fernandez.
After Reed struck out, Jack Mayfield sent a line drive to center field to drive in Vasquez, giving the JetHawks a 10-4 lead and the fans free tacos.
A passed ball, three walks, a single and an out later, Vasquez came back to bat again, and his single to left field made it 15-4.
Another Fernandez walk loaded the bases for Reed. This time the slugger sent a bases-clearing double to left field to tack on three more runs to the obliteration of High Desert, whose starter Tyler Smith had departed two outs into the second inning after giving up nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits and three walks.
“The offense is right there, we have a lot of good hitters,” Lopez said.
It also further secured a win for JetHawks left-handed starter Evan Grills, whose new short haircut debut got off to a rough start.
Grills gave up a leadoff single to Evan Van Hoosier and hit Joe Jackson with a pitch before Ryan Cordell took him deep to left field as the Mavericks took a 3-0 lead with no outs in the first inning.
Grills retired the next two before picking off Zach Cone, who had singled to left, at first to get out of the first without any further damage.
The lefty hit a batter and gave up three more hits and a run in the second, but he shut down the Mavericks over the next four innings to record his longest outing of the year. His final line: six innings, nine hits, four runs, three strikeouts.
“After two shaky innings, Grills was able to settle down and make some better pitches and give us four more innings,” Lopez said. “That was a plus there to save our bullpen.”
Surprisingly enough, the final six frames went by quickly, with the game lasting just over three hours. The JetHawks’ offense wasn’t done, however.
Chase McDonald hit the first homer of the game and Brett Phillips tripled for a second time to drive in Marc Wik in the seventh. Phillips then came home on an error by the shortstop, High Desert’s third of the game, to put the JetHawks up 21-5. It was the first time since 2013 Lancaster had score 20 or more runs in a game.
Then, with the Mavericks sending catcher David Lyon to pitch the eighth in an effort to save their bullpen, Reed homered to put a cap on the type of game the California League home run leader hadn’t experienced since high school.
“(Lyon) threw me two fastballs right in the middle and I didn’t swing at either one of those,” Reed said,” Then he threw me an awful pitch and for some reason I swung at that one.”
Jack Mayfield went 4-for-6 with four RBIs, Phillips went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Vasquez was 3-for-6 with three RBIs for Lancaster, which promoted pitchers Michael Feliz and Chris Cotton to Double-A Corpus Christi earlier in the day.
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER — It was only the third inning on Thursday night at The Hangar, and the home fans were already guaranteed free tacos.
In a cold, windy night, the JetHawks hadn't even hit a home run, yet they had scored 10 runs one out into the third against High Desert. Two outs later, they had somehow upstaged an explosive second frame in which they batted around and scored seven runs.
“We came out aggressive, especially early in the game, which is the most important part of the game,” JetHawks manager Omar Lopez said.
After a nine-run third frame where the JetHakws sent 13 batters to the plate and outfielder Danry Vasquez picked up two hits, the exclamation point of an emphatic 22-5 win against High Desert, things were simply out of control.
Nearly two hours had elapsed since the first pitch was thrown, and Lancaster (21-20), which totaled a season-high 19 hits, had sent 32 batters to the plate and led 18-4.
“We needed a game like that, we needed to break out, score some runs,” said JetHawks designated hitter A.J. Reed, who went 3-for-6 with a double and a homer, his 11th of the season, and four RBIs.
Lancaster gave two-time Dodgers’ World Series champion second baseman Steve Sax, who was at the park signing autographs as part of the JetHawks' Superstar Series, plenty of entertainment in the form of an annihilation of the Mavericks (20-20) in the rubber game of a three-game set that looked as if it was going to last into the next day.
The first inning, which finished with the JetHawks trailing 3-2, lasted 34 minutes. Then it took High Desert 54 pitches to get out of the top of the second, before Lancaster went nuclear in the third.
“Definitely those first three innings we were like, ‘This is going to be the longest game ever,’” Reed said. “But then the pace picked up.”
It all started innocently enough in the third, with a Vasquez double to center field off agonizing Mavericks reliever Ryne Slack and a walk by Jose Fernandez.
After Reed struck out, Jack Mayfield sent a line drive to center field to drive in Vasquez, giving the JetHawks a 10-4 lead and the fans free tacos.
A passed ball, three walks, a single and an out later, Vasquez came back to bat again, and his single to left field made it 15-4.
Another Fernandez walk loaded the bases for Reed. This time the slugger sent a bases-clearing double to left field to tack on three more runs to the obliteration of High Desert, whose starter Tyler Smith had departed two outs into the second inning after giving up nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits and three walks.
“The offense is right there, we have a lot of good hitters,” Lopez said.
It also further secured a win for JetHawks left-handed starter Evan Grills, whose new short haircut debut got off to a rough start.
Grills gave up a leadoff single to Evan Van Hoosier and hit Joe Jackson with a pitch before Ryan Cordell took him deep to left field as the Mavericks took a 3-0 lead with no outs in the first inning.
Grills retired the next two before picking off Zach Cone, who had singled to left, at first to get out of the first without any further damage.
The lefty hit a batter and gave up three more hits and a run in the second, but he shut down the Mavericks over the next four innings to record his longest outing of the year. His final line: six innings, nine hits, four runs, three strikeouts.
“After two shaky innings, Grills was able to settle down and make some better pitches and give us four more innings,” Lopez said. “That was a plus there to save our bullpen.”
Surprisingly enough, the final six frames went by quickly, with the game lasting just over three hours. The JetHawks’ offense wasn’t done, however.
Chase McDonald hit the first homer of the game and Brett Phillips tripled for a second time to drive in Marc Wik in the seventh. Phillips then came home on an error by the shortstop, High Desert’s third of the game, to put the JetHawks up 21-5. It was the first time since 2013 Lancaster had score 20 or more runs in a game.
Then, with the Mavericks sending catcher David Lyon to pitch the eighth in an effort to save their bullpen, Reed homered to put a cap on the type of game the California League home run leader hadn’t experienced since high school.
“(Lyon) threw me two fastballs right in the middle and I didn’t swing at either one of those,” Reed said,” Then he threw me an awful pitch and for some reason I swung at that one.”
Jack Mayfield went 4-for-6 with four RBIs, Phillips went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Vasquez was 3-for-6 with three RBIs for Lancaster, which promoted pitchers Michael Feliz and Chris Cotton to Double-A Corpus Christi earlier in the day.