SWEET SEASON, SOUR FINISH 'HAWKS ENJOY SUCCESS UNTIL LEAGUE SERIES.

Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer

LANCASTER - They spent the summer thrilling fans with walk-off homers, developed some of baseball's most exciting prospects and won titles in both halves of the California League season despite fielding drastically different teams in each.

For those accomplishments, among others, the 2004 JetHawks later this week will be honored by The Sporting News as the minor-league Team of the Year.

That distinction notwithstanding, the most successful season in the franchise's history ended in heartbreaking fashion.

Locked in a gripping league championship series with the Modesto A's that went to a decisive fifth game Monday, the JetHawks came up short in a 4-3 loss, leaving the potential tying run in scoring position.

That they battled back from a four-run deficit was a tribute to their competitive spirit. But coming so close at the end made it hurt that much more.

``It's tough,'' JetHawks outfielder Jay Garthwaite said, fighting off tears. ``Any time you work this hard and you get this far and you end up losing, it's really hard.''

JetHawks manager Wally Backman said: ``It's an empty feeling.''

Compounding the JetHawks' disappointment was that it cameafter taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series after Saturday's dramatic 8-7 victory n 10 innings. Reggie Abercrombie scored the winning run, slamming into Modesto catcher John Suomi at the plate. Suomi suffered a knee injury on the play and was sidelined for the rest of the series.

``Nobody remembers the second-place team,'' Backman said. ``I thought we played like champions (Monday). We just fell a little bit short.''

The JetHawks won titles in both halves despite drastic midseason personnel moves that saw them go from a team that was on pace to obliterate the franchise's single-season home run record in the first half to a more National League-style team in the second half that relied on pitching and speed.

The team's camaraderie withstood all the changes, though, allowing the newcomers to make a seamless transition.

``The connection from the beginning of the season to the end of the season was just awesome,'' catcher Phil Avlas said. ``We clicked as a team. Everybody was so close. That's why this is so hard right now.''

The JetHawks went wire-to-wire in winning the second-half title with a team of players many in the parent Arizona Diamondbacks organization considered to be overachievers.

They won a first-half title with what then-farm director Tommy Jones said was the ``most talent-rich team (the Diamondbacks) have sent anywhere,'' that underachieved before a series of team meetings energized the club, helping sending it on a run in which it won 21 of 25 games, concluding with a June 16 title-clinching victory at San Jose.

The ``Three Amigos'' - outfielders Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin, and third baseman Jamie D'Antona - set the tone for the JetHawks in the first half, combining for 39 homers and 162 RBI.

The three, along with staff ace Clint Goocher, were among six players promoted to Double-A El Paso (Texas) after the first half. But the JetHawks got production from players who had been assigned to Lancaster from El Paso to resurrect their careers and from converted reliever Enrique Gonzalez, who emerged as the staff ace.

All exceeded expectations, with Garthwaite batting .311 with 12 homers and 41 RBI, Dan Uggla hitting .336 with six homers and 38 RBI and Doc Brooks going on a tear after being moved to the leadoff spot, batting .369 over the last month.

Gonzalez went 10-2 with a 2.46 ERA in 17 starts.

``It's been a great year for them,'' Backman said. ``There've been great things that have happened this year. We've produced products that are going to be impact players in the big leagues and we've had guys come down (from Double-A) that had to kind of re-energize their careers.

But for all their accomplishments, the JetHawks' failure to close out the championship series they led at home going into Game 4 will be an indelible mark on the team's legacy.

Backman acknowledged as much in the final clubhouse meeting after Game 5, when he told his players to ``remember the feeling'' of losing the championship series as well as the emotions surrounding their divisional playoff series victory over Inland Empire.

``The only reason you play this game is to become a champion,'' Backman said. ``If there's some other reason, or if it's for the money, then you shouldn't be playing.''

Gideon Rubin, [phone]

gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com

A SEASON TO REMEMBER

--April 8: Daniel Tosca hits two of the JetHawks' four homers in a season-opening 7-3 victory over visiting High Desert.

--April 13: Manager Wally Backman flips a table in a clubhouse tirade after an 8-1 loss to Lake Elsinore.

--April 30: Former first-round draft pick Jason Bulger, coming off Tommy John surgery, joins the JetHawks and takes over as the closer for a struggling Dustin Glant. His 98-mph fastball helps him emerge as one of the California League's most effective closers.

--May 21: The JetHawks hit rock bottom with a 16-2 loss to Inland Empire, tying a franchise record for the most lopsided loss.

--May 22: After rallying from a six-run deficit, the JetHawks lose 8-7 when Inland Empire scores a run in the ninth inning. It was the JetHawks' seventh loss in nine games and dropped them four games out of first place, jeopardizing their first-half title hopes.

--May 23: The beleaguered pitching staff gets a strong outing from ace Clint Goocher in a 7-2 victory over Inland Empire that starts the JetHawks on a stretch in which they won 21 of 25, culminating with an 8-1 victory at San Jose that clinched the first-half title.

--June 20: A blockbuster 11-player transaction sees the JetHawks lose the nucleus of their first-half title team, including their vaunted ``Three Amigos'' - outfielders Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin, and third baseman Jamie D'Antona.

--June 21: Barely an hour after joining the team from Double-A El Paso (Texas) to start the second half, Jay Garthwaite hits a three-run homer in a 6-4 victory over Visalia, helping set the team on course for a 6-0 start and an eventual second-half title.

--July 15: Mike Schultz ties a professional record shared by three others with five strikeouts in one inning in a bizarre 19-4 loss to Rancho Cucamonga that set a franchise record for the most lopsided loss.

--July 20: A 17-1 loss to High Desert breaks the franchise record for most lopsided loss set just five days earlier.

--Sept. 14: The JetHawks defeat Inland Empire 5-4 to win the division playoff series and advance to the California League championship series for first time in franchise history.

--Sept. 20: A ninth-inning rally comes up short as the JetHawks leave tying run in scoring position and end their season with a 4-3 loss to Modesto in Game 5 of the league championship series.

- Gideon Rubin

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Danny Richar pulls his jersey over his head after the JetHawks lose the final game of the league championship series.

(2) Adam Bass put the JetHawks in a hole by allowing four runs in four innings. Those four runs turned out to be enough for Modesto.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

Box:

A SEASON TO REMEMBER (see text)