JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: A PLACE WHERE NO LEAD EVER IS OUT OF REACH : JETHAWKS MAKING HANGAR FRIENDLY TO BIG COMEBACK RALLIES.

Byline: Chris Cocoles Daily News Staff Writer

There are few JetHawks remaining who could say they were in Lancaster Municipal Stadium on April 29, 1997.

Trailing 17-7 to the Bakersfield Blaze, the JetHawks scored 12 times in the seventh inning to win 20-17 in a game that has contributed to The Hangar's reputation as a park where no lead is secure.

The Lake Elsinore Storm left town believing the hype. A 9-0 cushion entering the seventh inning Monday wasn't quite enough.

The JetHawks strung together a six-run seventh and a seven-run eighth to stun Lake Elsinore 13-9 and salvage a split in the four-game series.

``In this league anything can happen. This is A-ball,'' said JetHawks third baseman Jason Regan, whose leadoff home run in the seventh broke the shutout and sparked the rallying.

``Tonight, anything happened.''

Second baseman Chris Dean's RBI single in the eighth cut the Storm's lead to 9-8. The 24-year-old was involved in the 20-17 shootout in 1997.

``We put up two (big innings). Playing at The Hangar it's possible,'' Dean said. ``A nine-run lead here is more like a four-run lead.''

For that reason, a nine-run deficit in other parks where the ball carries less might have been impossible to come back from.

``In the first three innings (when the JetHawks trailed 8-0) we were kind of dead,'' first baseman Cirilo Cruz said. ``But then everyone started swinging the bat and we came back.''

Manager Rick Burleson admitted to giving another in a series of his ``Knute Rockne'' speeches before Monday's game after the JetHawks went scoreless the final five innings of a 17-12 loss on Sunday. When his team fell behind by nine runs he wondered if such tactics were worth the effort.

``For six innings it seemed like it went in one ear and out the other,'' he said.

But at least one message was delivered.

``I was talking to the team today about playing for nine innings, the importance of continuing to play hard,'' Burleson said. ``You want the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to be yours.''

Mission accomplished. The JetHawks outhit the Storm 14-2 and outscored it 13-1 in the final three innings.

Bo knows slams: Long before he was Monday's hero, Cruz was standing on third base and thinking about getting one final shot at Lake Elsinore closer Bo Donaldson, who had saved the Storm's two victories over the JetHawks in the series.

``I told (third-base coach Scott Steinmann) `I wish I could hit off (Donaldson) again.' Everytime I faced him he seemed to get me out. I hadn't done anything against him,'' Cruz said.

Cruz got his wish when Donaldson entered the game in the eighth.

With the bases loaded, Cruz went the other way with a Donaldson slider and sent the ball over the wall in right-center for a grand slam that completed the JetHawks' come-from-behind victory.

``I just wanted the opportunity to make something happen,'' said Cruz, the California League's RBI leader with 89.

``It was a big win for us. Now we're playing San Jose (in a three-game series that continues tonight) and it's going to be a tough series. We have to win at least two games against them.''

Big at-bat: Though Greg Connors' leadoff single seemed trivial amid Cruz's grand slam and Matt Sachse's run-scoring triple in the game-winning eighth inning, Burleson didn't forget Connors' achievement.

``He gets ahead 2-0 in the count and then he takes a low strike. He swings (and misses) the next pitch and instead of being ahead 3-0 he's at 2-2,'' Burleson said. ``Then he got a big hit to start the inning.''

Suspension update: Burleson said he'll serve his two-game suspension this weekend for the first two games at Visalia.

Burleson will make the trip with the team on Friday. He can work out during batting practice but will have to sit in the stands once the game begins.

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PHOTO CIRILO CRUZ

His grand slam completed the JetHawks' comeback from a 9-0 deficit against the Lake Elsinore Storm.