'Hawks return with hot bats to start half

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. - The JetHawks didn't cool off over the All-Star Break and started the second half of the season with a 13-7 victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm on Thursday night at The Diamond. 

The JetHawks (45-26) came out swinging, and taking, in the 1st inning against Storm (40-31) starter Bryan Rodrigeuz (2-5). Tony Kemp led off the inning with a walk, stole second base and scored on a Rio Ruiz single. Rodriguez walked Carlos Correa and Brandon Meredith to load the bases and Conrad Gregor picked up an RBI when his grounder to third was bobbled for an error. Dan Gulbransen finished the frame with an RBI-single to put the JetHawks up 3-0. 

Kent Emanuel (3-1) cruised through five innings, allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out two and walked one. By the time he left the game the JetHawks had jumped out to a 10-1 lead. 

After scoring a run in the second on a Correa RBI-single, the JetHawks put up five in the third. Gregor started with a double and scored on a Roberto Peña bloop single. A Cody Hebner error extended the inning and allowed Kemp to come up with a run-scoring single. Teoscar Hernandez followed with a fly ball to deep left field. Jeremy Baltz couldn't make the catch and crashed into the wall. Hernandez rounded the bases for an inside-the-park home run and picked up three RBIs on the play. He finished with a total of four on the night. 

Each JetHawk had a hit in the game and six of the nine in the order finished with multi-hit nights. Each player in the lineup had one of the club's first nine hits. 

Matt Heidenreich allowed three runs (one earned) over the final three innings to earn his first save of the season. 

The four-game series continues on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. in Lake Elsinore. Josh Hader will start against Zach Eflin. 

Don't miss a moment of exciting JetHawks action at The Hangar in 2014. Playoff tickets and other great ticket packages are on sale now. To order, call (661) 726-5400 or visit jethawks.com.