JetHawks Throw It Away in Ninth, 5-4

Ryan Luther scored from first on a throwing error in the ninth inning by third baseman Vaughn Luther and the Bakersfield Blaze defeated the JetHawks, 5-4, in a California League game Friday night in Bakersfield.

Lancaster (1-1) took a 4-3 lead on Juan Silvestre’s three-run homer in the eighth. Carlos Valdarrama of Bakersfield (1-1) hit a first-pitch homer off Cody Morrison to tie the score, 4-4, in the ninth.

Silvestre finished with two hits.

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Today’s game: Lancaster at Bakersfield, 7:15 p.m. Next home game: 7:15 p.m., April 12 vs. Mudville Nine (formerly Stockton). On the radio: KUTY-AM 1470.

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Four of five new managers won Cal League debuts on Thursday. JetHawk Mark Parent, managing his first pro team, was a 4-2 winner over Bakersfield, managed by Lenn Sakata, who led San Jose to the playoffs last season.

The other new managers to win were Greg Sparks of Modesto, which beat Rancho Cucamonga, 5-2; Barry Moss of Stockton, which defeated San Jose, 10-2, and Scott Coolbaugh of High Desert, which won, 11-10, over Visalia with a ninth-inning rally.

The only new manager to lose was Dino Ebel of San Bernardino, who coached the team last year and took over as manager on an interim basis in July when Del Crandall resigned.

The other managers in the league are Keith Comstock of San Jose, who managed Bakersfield last season; Mario Mendoza of Lake Elsinore, who returns for his third season; Tom LaVasseur of Rancho Cucamonga, who is a second-year manager and Juan Navarette of Visalia, who is in his second season.