STEALTH: SO FAR, SO GOOD; TEAM PLEASED WITH BIG CROWD.Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer Nobody knew what to expect when the California Fall League was unveiled last Thursday night at Lancaster Municipal Stadium. Certainly not Lancaster Stealth general manager Kevin Younkin, who wondered whether his team's opener would be a flop. In the end, he couldn't have been more pleased. The Stealth blew out the Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga (răn`chō k  'kəmäng`gə), city (1990 pop. 101,409), San Bernardino co., S Calif. Surfers and drew a hearty paid crowd of 1,209. ``No one knew what to expect throughout the four markets of the league,'' Younkin said of fall league cities Lancaster, Lake Elsinore, Rancho Cucamonga and 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. . Only Lake Elsinore surpassed the Stealth's Opening Night total, the Land Sharks a swindler of sailors on shore. See also: Land attracting 1,220 to The Diamond. The numbers weren't so encouraging at San Bernardino (520) and Rancho Cucamonga (456) in the openers for the Sand Dragons and Surfers, respectively. ``Ours and Lake Elsinore's markets have seemed to receive (fall baseball) favorably,'' Younkin said. ``We were in Rancho for their opener and that 400 or so crowd was pretty accurate. Rancho refused to have the promotions that you'll see during the Quakes' season.'' Rancho Cucamonga has committed to focusing solely on baseball rather than the minor-league tradition of catering to fans. The Stealth's first game was a combination of the two. ``We want to focus on baseball, too, so we don't do as much stuff as we'll do during the JetHawks' season. But we want to keep our fans entertained, too,'' said Younkin, who serves as assistant general manager for Lancaster's Single-A Cal League team. ``We had a good enthusiastic crowd for Opening Day and they saw a good game to boot.'' A bingo game that's tied to specific scoring plays was a hit that Younkin said should be added to the JetHawks' promotional list for the 2000 season. Other Stealth experiments include $1 hot dog nights on Tuesdays, $1 soda nights for Thursday home games and fans can attend Sunday's 2 p.m. doubleheader for $2, a season-long price for the Stealth's three Sunday home dates. ``It goes to show what a strong baseball fan market we have in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley ,'' Younkin said. ``I think our fans are going to support the fall league. We're excited about that because they've supported (the JetHawks) for four years.'' Quality baseball hasn't hurt the cause. The Stealth was off to a 3-2 start and will finish off a six-game road trip before returning home Friday night to face San Bernardino. ``The level of play on the field is extraordinary. This is the chance for the true fan to see good baseball at an affordable price,'' Younkin said. On the local front: The two Antelope Valley High products playing in the Cal Fall League are having mixed results early on. Rancho Cucamonga outfielder Eric Cole, who plays in the Houston Astros “Astros” redirects here. For other uses, see Astros (disambiguation). The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The team is in the Central Division of the National League. organization, was hitting .235 (4 for 17) with a homer, a double and two 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 after he reached Double-A Jackson to end the season. Lake Elsinore pitcher Sean Douglass Sean Douglas (born May 8, 1972) is a retired New Zealand soccer player, who is currently assistant coach of the New Zealand U-20's team. Club career As a player he spent most of his years in the Australian league, but returned to Auckland when Carlton S.C. , who made quite an impressive jump from rookie ball to advanced Single-A Frederick in the Baltimore Orioles This article is about the contemporary American major league baseball team. For other uses, see Baltimore Oriole (disambiguation). The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. farm system, was sharp in his debut for the Land Sharks. The right-hander yielded just an unearned run on no hits, a walk and a strikeout in three innings. Odds and ends: The tennis balls will be flying out of The Hangar again on Saturday. An old JetHawks favorite in the promotion department, Launch-A-Ball, has been added to the Stealth's list of fan-friendly activities. The game that features prize rings on the infield for any tennis balls that land in them will follow every Saturday home game. Friday's game includes a back-to-school kit for kids and Stealth T-shirts will be given away on Saturday. . . . STEALTH UPDATE Record 3-2, tied for first place with Rancho Cucamonga. Who's hot: P Justin Miller Justin Miller may refer to:
Todd was drafted in 3rd round by the Colorado Rockiesin the the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft. has two homers and a double in 11 at-bats. . . . OF Rod Lindsey is hitting .467 (5 for 11) with four stolen bases. Who's not: SS Jack Wilson Jack Wilson can refer to different people:
Coming up: Tonight and Thursday, at Rancho Cucamonga. Friday (7:15 p.m.), Saturday (7:15 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m. DH), vs. San Bernardino at Lancaster Municipal Stadium. CAPTION(S): box Box: (ran in AV edition only) Stealth update (see text) |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion