JetHawks exacting revenge in Cal semis

After Inland Empire swept Lancaster at the end of the regular season, the JetHawks are in a position to return the favor in the California League semifinals.

The Astros' Class A Advanced affiliate beat the visiting 66ers, 5-2, on Sunday in Game 2. Danry Vasquez went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs while starter Kent Emanuel followed Vincent Velasquez's quality start in the opener with another one. Lancaster holds a 2-0 edge in the best-of-5 series, which now shifts to Inland Empire.

"We're just playing well the last couple games, and we needed the rest after the last series of the year," said JetHawks manager Rodney Linares, whose club had a bye before the South Division Finals. "These guys beat us up real well last series to come into the playoffs."

The 66ers struck first, but the JetHawks didn't wait long to tie the game as Vasquez launched a solo blast with two outs in the second inning. Following a solo homer by Sherman Johnson that gave Inland Empire a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth, Brett Phillips knotted the game again with an RBI single in the bottom half.

In the sixth, Vasquez plated the go-ahead run with a groundout to first base and Roberto Pena hit an RBI single to pad the lead. Lancaster posted its final run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Tyler White.

For the weekend, Vasquez batted .500 (4-for-8) with three RBIs.

"He's got a knack for the barrel; he'll barrel the ball," Linares said. "He's still learning. He's only 20 years old. He's got a chance to be a pretty good player. The thing with him is he needs to start driving the ball a little bit more and I think he's tapping into it now."

Emanuel (1-0) allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while fanning one over six innings. Inland Empire starter Dan Tobik gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts across five innings. Reliever Jake Boyd (1-1) took the loss after yielding two runs and three hits in two-thirds of an inning.

A bullpen mix of Evan Grills, Tyler Brunnemann, Jamaine Cotton and Andrew Walter combined to protect Lancaster's lead.

"Our pitching has been strong the last couple of nights," said Linares. "As long as you can keep the ball down and mix your pitches well and pitch inside, you're going to be fine. I think that's what we're doing and we've been doing it for a while now. I can't say enough about how they've been throwing the ball."

The third game of the series will be played at Inland Empire on Monday, with Games 4 and 5 (if necessary) to be played at Inland Empire and Lancaster respectively.

In other California League action:

Visalia 7, Bakersfield 5

Leadoff man Kevin Medrano drove in three runs, two with a go-ahead double in the sixth inning, as the Rawhide took a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 Northern Division finals. Eight of the nine players in the Visalia lineup had at least one hit, with four recording at least two. The Blaze went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base. Box score