Camarillo Stays in Hitting Mood for Simi Valley

SIMI VALLEY —  Camarillo High’s hit parade rolled on Wednesday in a 13-7 victory over host Simi Valley in a Marmonte League baseball game.

Camarillo (15-3-1, 4-0-1 in league play) remained alone in first place. The Scorpions led, 6-3, after two innings and 11-5 after three.

Camarillo collected 18 hits, including seven doubles, and is averaging 12.2 hits per game. Nine Scorpions batted and seven had hits in a five-run third inning.

“Boy, [Camarillo] can hit,” said Simi Valley Coach Tom D’Errico, whose team fell to 10-6, 3-2. “I was hoping to keep them off-balance with a couple of my more crafty pitchers, but we couldn’t get the ball over the plate and had to come right at them.”

The results were disastrous for the Pioneers, and starter Michael Causey in particular.

A sophomore right-hander, Causey allowed four hits and six runs--all earned--in 1 1/3 innings. Causey struck out one, walked three and hit a batter. He did not throw a first-pitch strike to any of the 12 batters he faced.

Causey was followed by four relievers, none of whom fared particularly well. Senior Alfonso Rodriguez earned praise from D’Errico after allowing 10 hits and seven runs--six earned--in three innings.

Camarillo’s Jeff Bannon had four hits, including two doubles, and five runs batted in. Jay Caligiuri had a double, a home run and four RBIs, boosting his season total to 36.

Tony Murphy had four hits, including two doubles. Joe Yingling had three hits and Mike Bannon had two.

The least successful Scorpion? Standout Joe Borchard, who was hitless in four at-bats and was hit by a pitch.

Despite Camarillo’s offensive output, the Scorpions’ pitching was less than perfect, a season-long dilemma.

Starter Ryan Geisler (5-0) allowed seven hits and five runs--four earned--in three innings. Geisler surrendered a home run to leadoff hitter Brett Scott in the first and a two-run home run to Andrew Gerber in the second.

Shane Miranda relieved Geisler and finished the game, allowing five hits and two earned runs.

“Our weakness is on the mound,” Camarillo Coach Scott Cline said. “We can hit the ball a little bit but someday a pitcher’s going to shut us down and we’ll need to be able to do the same with our [pitchers].”