JetHawks Drop 66ers 8-0
Lancaster, CA- The Lancaster JetHawks trounced the Inland Empire 66ers 8-0 at The Hangar on Monday sending the Sixers to their fourth straight defeat. Lancaster was powered by the right arm of 19-year-old Francis Martes and a seven-run bottom of the second inning highlighted by Chase McDonald's three-run homer.
The JetHawks (61-59, 24-26) sent ten men to the plate in the second. Ronnie Mitchell opened the inning with a base hit off IE starter Jordan Kipper (6-9). After a strikeout, the onslaught began. Sean McMullen, Mott Hyde and Marc Wik hit consecutive RBI doubles to make it 3-0. A base hit by James Ramsay put runners at the corners. Alex Bregman then lined a ball off Kipper's arm. The righty scrambled and got the out at first as a run came in to make it 4-0. Kipper stayed in the game but two batters later was chased when McDonald hammered his 25th homer of the season, a three-run shot to center to make it 7-0.
Francis Martes dominated for the JetHawks. The young righty from Cotui, DR handcuffed Inland Empire (58-61, 23-26) for seven shutout innings. He allowed five hits and walked one while striking out nine batters. Martes has not allowed an earned run in 13.0 innings against the 66ers in two starts.
Sean McMullen had three hits for the JetHawks. His pair of doubles was capped with a bloop RBI single in the fifth that made it 8-0 Lancaster. He was one of five JetHawks with multi-hit games as eight-of-nine batters had base hits in the game. Brandon Bayardi and Bo Way each had a pair of hits for Inland Empire which mustered seven hits, all singles in the contest. The loss was the 11th time the 66ers have been shutout this season. The JetHawks have now tossed nine shutouts on the season, this was their second consecutive home game with an 8-0 shutout decision as they handled High Desert by that score on August 9th. Southpaw Jordan Mills completed the blanking with two scoreless frames in relief of Martes. Ronnie Muck, Garret Nuss and Tyler Carpenter combined to allow just one run and strike out 10 batters out of the pen for Inland Empire over 6.1 innings of work.
The series continues Tuesday at 6:30 pm. It can be heard live at 66ers.com.
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