JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: BACKMAN PUSHES 'RIGHT BUTTONS'.

Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - From a professional standpoint, JetHawks manager Wally Backman took a step backward coming to Lancaster.

Backman, who managed the Chicago White Sox's Double-A Birmingham (Ala.) affiliate the past two seasons and was a finalist for the White Sox's major-league managing job last fall, took the JetHawks' job hoping it would put him back on the major-league managerial radar.

Whether that happens remains to be seen, but his work at Lancaster has the JetHawks on the brink of clinching the first-half title in the California League Southern Division, earning high marks from his boss, Tommy Jones, farm director for the JetHawks' parent Arizona Diamondbacks.

Backman has the advantage of managing a team with high-profile talent. The JetHawks have three first-round draft picks and one second-round pick on their roster and had eight Baseball America top-30 organizational prospects at one point.

According to Jones, that is what's made Backman's work with the team so impressive.

``What people don't realize is when you're given a team with high, high expectations, that's one of the toughest teams to manage,'' Jones said. ``It's easy to get a team of guys that overachieve and play dirt-bag baseball and pull together, but when you have a team that's supposed to win and you win, you're pushing all the right buttons, and it's a grind.''

Under Backman, the JetHawks have pulled their way through a slump that saw them lose seven of nine games and fall three games out of first place. They've since won four in a row, seven of eight and 19 of 23.

Going into Tuesday, the JetHawks (41-23) led second-place Inland Empire (36-28) by five games with six remaining for both teams in the half. Their magic number was two, meaning any combination of two JetHawks victories or Inland Empire losses would clinch the title.

--A rivalry, sort of: JetHawks outfielders Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin no longer are rivals, but they were in college, with Jackson playing for California and Quentin across the bay at Stanford.

The players are expecting a contingency of fans from their respective alma maters to attend this week's series at San Jose, which began Tuesday.

``I can't wait,'' Jackson said. ``I've got a lot of people from Cal coming up there.''

But Jackson isn't expecting his fans to be especially chatty with Quentin's.

``They might have to separate the stands from the Stanford and Cal guys,'' Jackson said.

Truth be told, the rivalry that exists between the schools in other sports, most notably football, hasn't carried into baseball. Bay Area fans are at best lukewarm to college baseball, and Cal has never been at the same level as perennial power Stanford.

``The football is just ridiculously more of a rivalry,'' Jackson said.

--Bass is best: JetHawks pitcher Adam Bass was named the California League's Pitcher of the week.

Bass, who was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two starts, pitched his first career complete game June 8, leading the JetHawks to an 8-3 victory over High Desert, and went five innings Sunday in a 3-2 victory over Rancho Cucamonga in the first game of a doubleheader.

--Hot hitter: Jackson took a 13-game hitting streak into Tuesday's game. His streak is the longest by a JetHawks player this season and ties Lake Elsinore's Marcus Nettles for the league's longest active streak.

Jackson is batting .460 (18 for 44) during the streak with six extra-base hits, including two homers, and six RBI.

Gideon Rubin, [phone]

gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com

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(ran in AV edition only) Carlos Quentin's 13-game hitting streak is the longest by a JetHawks player this year. He is hitting .460 during that span.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer