The Lancaster JetHawks are a minor league baseball team in Lancaster, California, USA. They are a Class-A Advanced team in the California League, and currently serve as the Class-A Advanced farm team of the Houston Astros.

LANCASTER JETHAWKS TICKETS Monster Jam Tickets Chicago Bulls Tickets Los Angeles Lakers Tickets The Harlem Globetrotters New York Knicks Tickets Boston Celtics Tickets

Team History

Prior to moving to Lancaster, the team was located in Riverside, California, and was known as the Pilots. Notable players to play for the JetHawks include Jose Cruz, Jr. and Brandon Webb. While in Riverside, the team played at UC-Riverside Sports Center. The Pilots' previous owners chose Lancaster over Palm Springs, California in a lucrative offer.

In November 2005, the original owners of the JetHawks during their first 10 years in Lancaster, Clutch Play Baseball, LLC sold the team to a group led by majority investor Peter Carfagna of Cleveland, Ohio. One of their first acts was to replace the original scoreboard at the stadium with a more advanced video board. For the first time, this allowed for video replays and other views from cameras around the field. For the 2006 season, the JetHawks' manager was former Major Leaguer Brett Butler.

On September 29th, 2006, the Boston Red Sox announced a two-year affiliation agreement with the JetHawks after losing their previous Carolina League affiliation in Wilmington. Since the Fenway Sports Group purchased the CL's Salem Avalanche franchise after the 2007 season, with the stated intent of moving the Red Sox's High-A affiliation there once the 2007-2008 agreement term lapsed, the JetHawks were forced to find a new major-league affiliate before the 2009 season. Their new affiliate is the Houston Astros.

On August 25, 2008, the JetHawks announced its new general manager, Antelope Valley native Larry Thornhill. Thornhill, a former JetHawks broadcaster from its inaugural season of 1996, will take over day-to-day operations of the Lancaster organization from Brad Seymour, who was promoted to Vice President of both the JetHawks and Lake County (OH) Captains. Seymour joined the organization in 2004 and has served as General Manager for five seasons with the JetHawks and will now oversee the Captains and JetHawks franchises, both owned by the Peter A. Carfagna family.

Stadium

The JetHawks play home games at Clear Channel Stadium, which opened in 1996 as Lancaster Municipal Stadium. The park has just over 4,600 permanent seats, but can accommodate over 7,000 fans with grass seating along each foul line. The stadium has deep fences (350 feet down the right and left field lines and 410 feet to deep center field) to combat the prevailing winds of the Antelope Valley.

Roster

Players				Coaching staff
Pitchers 17 Erick Abreu 16 Josh Appell 35 Douglas Arguello 18 Corey Bass 25 Raymar Diaz 19 Jason Dominguez 32 Bryan Hallberg -- Jay Pacella -- Jordan Powell 37 David Qualben 28 Joel Santo 22 Sergio Severino 4 Chad Wagler -- Sean Walker † disabled list ‡ temporary inactive list * On Houston Astros 40-man roster updated 2008-09-01		Catchers 6 Kevin Carkeek 2 Koby Clemens -- Jimmy Goethals Infielders 15 Greg Buchanan 3 Osvaldo Fernando 24 Jhon Florentino 11 Roberto Mena 27 Mark Ori 33 Tim Torres -- James Van Ostrand Outfielders -- Collin DeLome 9 Nicholas Moresi 8 Jordan Parraz 13 Cesar Quintero 14 Orlando Rosales		Manager 20 Jim Pankovits Coaches -- Keith Bodie (pitching) -- Gary Ruby (hitting)

References