JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: COOK PICKS UP THE SLACK FOR JETHAWKS OFFENSE.Byline: Gideon Rubin Special to the Daily News SAN BERNARDINO San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. - After July promotions of the three most productive hitters from their lineup, the JetHawks desperately needed someone to pick up the slack. Right fielder right fielder n. Baseball The player who defends right field. Noun 1. right fielder - the person who plays right field outfielder - (baseball) a person who plays in the outfield Jeff Cook
Cook was the JetHawks' hero in back-to-back 11-inning victories over Inland Empire In·land Empire A region of the northwest United States between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, comprising eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. Farming, lumbering, and mining are important to the area. in the last two games of a three-game weekend series they swept at San Bernardino. He won the first game with a solo homer Noun 1. solo homer - a home run with no runners on base solo blast home run, homer - a base hit on which the batter scores a run - his 16th of the year - Saturday in a 5-4 victory and the second game with a two-run double Sunday in a 7-6 win. Cook was 11 for 17 with seven extra-base hits and four 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 in the series and is batting .551 (27 for 49) during an 11-game hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak refers to the consecutive number of official games in which a player gets at least one base hit. Games in which a player does not have any official at bats due to walks, or sacrifice bunts, or being hit by a pitch, are ignored (neither break the streak that began Aug. 3, which has raised his batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. from .297 to .324. Cook extended his hitting streak in the ninth inning Sunday after going hitless in his first four at-bats, singling Kenny Perez to third. Cook's hit set up Alex Frazier's game-tying single. Cook's hitting is a big reason why the JetHawks are playing their best ball at the most critical time of the season. Lancaster has won seven consecutive games and nine of its past 10 since being swept at home by Inland Empire in a four-game series in which the JetHawks were outscored by 38 runs. ``It's just been a great week,'' Cook said. ``I'm seeing the ball great. I hope it doesn't stop.'' --Finishing strong: If history is any indicator, Cook's late-season hitting streak should come as no surprise. Known as a strong finisher, Cook batted .400 (36 for 90) in August and September last season at low-A South Bend South Bend, city (1990 pop. 105,511), seat of St. Joseph co., N Ind., on the great south bend of the St. Joseph River, in a farming and mint-growing region; inc. as a city 1865. (Ind.) in the Midwest League. He said he also usually hit well at the end of the season when he played in college at Southern Mississippi. ``I'd like to think it's that everyone else is getting tired and I'm still feeling strong,'' Cook said. --Mission accomplished: After setting a goal of reaching .500 mark in the second half despite a 0-9 start, Lancaster (26-25, 63-58 overall) reached that goal Saturday and climbed above what manager Bill Plummer considers to be a key threshold on Sunday. Plummer said the JetHawks' resiliency in the Inland Empire series typified the way his team has played since the awful start to the half. ``These last two games we've basically had a 'don't-say-die' attitude,'' Plummer said. ``That's basically why we are where we are We are where we are is a Scottish idiom for pretending to accept the status quo, and to imply that previous events should be forgotten. It is based on the fact that it is impossible to turn back the clock. . We just haven't quit. A lot of teams would have stuck their tails between their legs after what we went through but they haven't done that, and they deserve credit for that.'' --Unplugged: The JetHawks will pull the plug on their audio and video equipment in tonight's 7 p.m. game against Lake Elsinore. Video board operator Tim Cottage and sound operator Tim Fiske, who play in a local alternative band named Toxic Twinkies, will play guitar and percussion instruments, respectively, on the stadium's grandstand. --Briefly: JetHawks pitcher Jon Castellanos was forced to leave the game after allowing two runs in six innings of three-hit ball due to tightness around his right knee as a result of being struck by a line drive in the fifth inning. Plummer said Castellanos is expected to make his next scheduled start Saturday against Bakersfield. ... JetHawks utilityman Jay Garthwaite, who was 3 for 6 with a homer and three RBI Sunday, is batting .359 (23 for 64) with five homers and eight doubles in July. ... Lake Elsinore takes a franchise-record 14-game losing streak into its game against the JetHawks tonight. Lake Elsinore is 3-13 against the JetHawks this season, and is 0-7 at Lancaster. Gideon Rubin, (818)713-3607 gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com |
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