WOOTEN ROCKED, JETHAWKS LOSE : VISALIA 6, JETHAWKS 2.Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer They played ``The Gong Show'' in the stands Thursday night at the Hangar. The 4,366 fans were merciless, gonging all three contestants. On the field, the JetHawks weren't much better, losing 6-2 to Visalia. Lancaster's prize for such a performance: a long, arduous road trip that could decide its season. OK, so the trip has been on the schedule the entire time, but no one has embraced it because Lancaster must travel north to San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. for the weekend, then travel back to Lake Elsinore for three games, before going back up north for three games at Modesto and Stockton. Fortunately, there's a day off - between the Modesto and Stockton series. Imagine that: a travel day to go about 12 miles. Lancaster (10-11 in the second half, 50-41 overall) is in the hunt for a wild-card berth (the California League The California League is a minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth awards playoff berths to the first- and second-half division champions and the two teams with the next best overall records). Heading into Thursday, the JetHawks led Modesto by three games and Stockton by four games in the wild-card race, so the trip is critical. Too bad Lancaster lost a chance to sweep Visalia (10-11, 45-46) and pick up some momentum heading north. Pitcher Greg Wooten (2-2) fell behind batters too often and gave up six earned runs and nine hits - including five doubles and a triple - with four walks and a strikeout. Wooten survived rocky second and third innings but came away unscathed. He wasn't so lucky in the sixth inning, when the Oaks put up three runs to build the lead to 6-1. David Skeel's triple, Omar Rosario's double and Adam Robinson's sacrifice fly drove in the runs. The offense sputtered at the wrong times against Visalia's Randy Niles (3-8). The JetHawks got six hits off him, but only Ramon Vazquez's third-inning single led to a run. Niles struck out four and walked one in six innings. Lancaster added a run in the eighth on a Brendan Kingman Brendan Kingman (born May 22, 1973) is an Australian baseballer. In 2004, he was part of the Australian Olympic baseball team, who achieved a Silver Medal in the baseball tournament at the Athens Olympics. home run, his 10th, off reliever Ray Noriega. MINOR-LEAGUE REPORT The International League defeated the Pacific Coast League For the high school sports league, see . The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a minor league baseball league operating in the West and Midwest of the United States. It is one of two leagues, along with the International League, playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below 8-4 in the Triple-A All-Star game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games in Norfolk, Va. Buffalo's Torey Lovullo Salvatore Anthony Lovullo (born July 25, 1965, in Santa Monica, California) was a Major League Baseball infielder and current manager of the AAA Buffalo Bisons. He is an alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles. (Montclair Prep, UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX ) was not able to play because of an injury. Wednesday's top performers: Kurt Airoso (CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge ) had a big game for Single-A Lakeland, driving in six runs with two homers and a double. . . . Adam West (Thousand Oaks High, Pierce JC) threw a scoreless inning for Single-A Prince William. . . . Jon Garland (Kennedy) improved to 3-5 for Single-A Rockford, striking out four with no walks and allowing just four hits and two runs in six innings. . . . Jon Schaeffer (Harvard-Westlake) was 3 for 4 with a homer 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 for Single-A Fort Wayne. . . . Erasmo Ramirez (CSUN) allowed his first run in five appearances for Single-A Bakersfield. --- Chris Cocoles CAPTION(S): Box BOX: MINOR-LEAGUE REPORT (see text) |
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