A BITTER END TO SWEET YEAR FOR JETHAWKS CLUB THRIVED DESPITE CALLUPS AND TERRIBLE SECOND-HALF START.Byline: Gideon Rubin Special to the Daily News LANCASTER - Considering their dreadful second-half start, that the JetHawks actually made the playoffs was in itself an impressive accomplishment. That they advanced to the California League's Southern Division championship series after trailing High Desert by four runs going into the ninth inning of the decisive Game 3 of the divisional miniseries qualified as a minor miracle. But the fact that they were swept in three games in the best-of-five divisional championship series by a Lake Elsinore team they were 16-4 against during the regular season was a disappointment. The JetHawks played some of their poorest ball against the Storm since a 10-game losing streak that began on the last day of the first half. Their typically solid starting pitching fell apart. Their potent lineup suddenly became miserably unproductive. Then defensive gaffes and a crucial baserunning blunder compounded their woes. Monday's season-ending 11-6 loss to Lake Elsinore typified the JetHawks' collapse. A.J. Shappi (0-1) allowed eight runs on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings, becoming the fifth consecutive JetHawks starter who failed to make it out of the fourth inning going back to Game 2 of the High Desert series. The JetHawks stranded 10 baserunners, eight of which were in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on . They squandered squan·der tr.v. squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders 1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste. 2. a second-and-third, no-out situation in the fourth inning of a game they trailed 4-1. The JetHawks were 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position on Monday, and were 7 for 41 in that category in the series. They stranded 34 baserunners, 26 of which were in scoring position. They committed three errors on Monday, giving them seven for the series. ``Since I've been here (in early July), we haven't played that bad,'' said JetHawks catcher Phil Avlas. ``Bad timing. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to say.'' The JetHawks' poor showing in the divisional championship series, however, was not typical of their play during the regular season, when their starting pitching was arguably the league's best and they batted .301 with runners in scoring position. After starting the second half 0-9, manager Bill Plummer William Francis Plummer (born March 21, 1947 in Oakland, CA) was a catcher for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and the Seattle Mariners. While never a regular player (he was Johnny Bench's backup catcher during the Big Red Machine years), he did play solid defense. set what at the time seemed to be a lofty goal of getting back to the .500 mark by mid-August. They reached that mark slightly ahead of schedule, getting to 25-25 in the second half on Aug. 13. The JetHawks' 2005 season did feature several player-development success stories. Catcher Miguel Montero Miguel Angel Montero (born July 9, 1983 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a baseball player for the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise. He made his Major League debut on September 6, 2006 against the Florida Marlins. went from unheralded to impact prospect, winning the league's batting title with a .349 average, and had 24 homers and 82 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in before being promoted to Double-A Tennessee. Danny Richar Danny Adam Richar (born June 9, 1983 in La Romana, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball second baseman who plays for the Chicago White Sox. Richar originally signed as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 9, 2001. (.300, 20 HR), Jeff Cook
``A lot of guys did some things that maybe (the parent Arizona Diamondbacks This article is about the baseball team. For other uses, see Diamondback. The Arizona Diamondbacks (also referred to as the D-backs) are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. ) organization wasn't expecting,'' Cook said. ``A lot of people raised their stock this year.'' The JetHawks finished the season 75-65 overall and were 38-32 in the second half, their seventh consecutive winning half going back to the second half of 2002, when Plummer took over managerial duties in mid-May when Lancaster was 11-29 and off to its worst start in franchise history. After July promotions of key offensive producers Montero mon·te·ro n. pl. mon·te·ros A hunter's cap with side flaps. [Spanish, hunter, from monte, mountain, from Latin m , Stephen Drew Stephen Oris Drew (born March 16 1983 in Valdosta, Georgia) is a shortstop in major league baseball who plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Drew was selected for the 2006 All-Star Futures Game. He is the younger brother of Red Sox outfielder J.D. (.389) and Carter (.296, 21 HR, 85 RBI), the JetHawks were left with a veteran team with an independent flavor. The team rallied around itself and played some of its best baseball in August, highlighted by a stretch in which it won 15 of 18 games that included an eight-game winning streak. ``I think this team overachieved,'' Plummer said. ``I had a feeling that this club could go all the way. We relied on smoke and mirrors and the mirror shattered and the smoke kind of drifted away from us.'' Gideon Rubin, (818)713-3607 gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com |
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