Saturday, 10 September 2016

JetHawks Soar Over Quakes, Advance to Division Finals


               The Lancaster JetHawks used their offense to win their first-round playoff match up against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. After dropping the first game of the series, the Lancaster bats put up some numbers that would make a lot of football teams proud, and took the final two games to advance to the next round of the California League playoffs.
                In the first game of the series this past Wednesday, Delhi, Ontario’s Brock Dykxhoorn got the start and was in line to win the game until the bullpen lost the lead in the eighth inning. He pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out seven. Rancho Cucamonga would eventually win the game in the bottom of the sixteenth inning with the final score being 4-3.
                On Thursday, Game 2 was played at The Hanger in Lancaster. The JetHawks put up eight runs in the bottom of the first and kept adding more along the way, eventually winning the game by a final score of 17-11 setting up the deciding third game.
                Last night, the Hawks thrashed the Quakes as they scored six runs in the third and another five in the fourth on their way to a 21-6 drubbing to win the best-of-three series. They advance to the next round to play the High Desert Mavericks in the best-of-five South Division Finals. Games 1 and 2 will go this weekend in Adelanto, California, with the next two games being at The Hangar on Monday and Tuesday. If a fifth game is necessary, it will go on Wednesday in Adelanto.
                Before the series with Rancho Cucamonga began, the JetHawks were able to clinch the South Division’s second half title with a 42-28 record, good enough for a three-game advantage over High Desert, who had already one the first half title. For the season, Lancaster had the third best overall record in the League with 79 wins and 61 losses.
                Dykxhoorn, since our last update, pitched his final game of the regular season on August 31st and picked up the victory in a 15-1 victory over Rancho Cucamonga. He pitched seven innings, giving up no runs while surrendering only three hits and two walks, and striking out eight. This was Dykxhoorn’s tenth win of the season, more than any other JetHawks’ hurler this year.
                For the season, he ended up with a 10-4 win/loss record, had a 5.02 ERA and struck out 91 batters in 123 2/3 innings pitched. In his professional career, he now has a 21-12 record, a 4.47 ERA and 221 strike outs in 264 innings.

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