JETHAWKS, MAVERICKS RE-CREATE MAJOR-LEAGUE HOME RUN POWER.

Byline: Bryan Winchell Special to the Daily News

If Maverick Stadium looked like Dodger Stadium Friday and Saturday night, Sunday evening it was back to its usual imitation of Colorado's Coors Field.

Sunday's 11-8 High Desert win had five home runs and nine extra-base hits between the Mavericks ad JetHawks.

Lancaster's Shane Monahan had two of those home runs. The second, a three-run shot which curled inside the leftfield foul pole and barely over the fence, prompted manager Dave Brundage to say: ``That was a High Desert home run.''

Which meant it had all the helping of heat, dry air, altitude and a gentle breeze to give it some extra distance.

While Monahan's three-run home run closed the High Desert lead to 9-5 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the two teams weren't done there.

High Desert scored two runs on a triple and a double in the bottom of the eighth inning and Lancaster came back with three runs on a triple and a double in the top of the ninth before Doug Carroll's groundout stranded runners on second and third.

This game, with the JetHawks coming back from a 7-1 and 9-2 deficit, was indeed a far cry from the first two of the series when Ken Cloude and Greg Wooten gave up one run each to High Desert.

``We knew that (no lead is safe) coming in here,'' Brundage said. ``It kind of puts things into perspective on how well the first two guys threw.''

A nice comeback to be sure, but one which had little chance considering the hole the team dug itself.

Lefthander Trey Moore has been solid in his three outings thus far, but Sunday was a different story.

Moore struggled locating his fastball and the Mavericks started sitting on his curveball. He threw 72 pitches in three innings and allowed seven hits and seven runs (six earned).

In the second inning, after James Clifford blasted a towering home run over the tall centerfield fence to tie it 1-1, High Desert scored two runs on an infield hit by shortstop David Lamb.

Lamb reached the bag just as the ball was caught by Clifford and Jesus Garcia scrambled home to beat Clifford's throw for the second run on the play.

``I thought that was the turning point,'' said Brundage. ``I thought the guy was out; of course I'm a little biased but that's two runs right there.''

A second turning point was the third inning. After Lancaster couldn't score with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the inning, High Desert scored four runs, three on a bases-loaded single by Bartt Corney, who went 2 for 2 with two runs and three walks for the Mavericks, and an error.

And that was when the JetHawks found themselves in a hole a little too deep to dig themselves out of.

``It's tough for us to get a sweep,'' Brundage said. ``We win that two out of three. If we could just do it all season I'm going to go out on a limb and say we'll win first place.''

Extra bases: Monahan, whose two home runs were the first for him after the All-Star break, was 5 for 8 over the last two days as a leadoff hitter.

``I think I'm getting more comfortable at the leadoff spot,'' said Monahan, who led off for three years while at Clemson University.

While Monahan's home runs brought the JetHawks back, they also brough him home a little spending money.

Some JetHawk fans took a High Desert tradition - the passing of a hat around the crowd for donations to a player who hits a home run - and collected $30.81 for Monahan.

``That's not too bad. It's a couple meals for my wife and I,'' Monahan said.

Monahan added that passing the hat is a tradition he would like to see started in Lancaster.

``I like High Desert,'' Monahan said. ``I like the fans, I like everything about it. The management obviously takes care of their players.''