High School Softball / Playoffs : Lancers Adjust Well to Change

THOUSAND OAKS —  The Thousand Oaks High softball team learned to expect the unexpected Thursday. Fortunately for the Lancers, the lesson didn’t cost them anything.

The Lancers expected to face Camarillo ace Cindy Ball, a hard-throwing, rise-ball pitcher. Instead, they got freshman Kathryn Nevard, mostly a down-ball, off-speed pitcher.

Thousand Oaks never fully adjusted, but--with only three hits--defeated Camarillo, 2-0, in a Southern Section Division I quarterfinal game in front of about 350 at Thousand Oaks Community Park.

With Ball’s right hand wrapped in a splint Thursday, Camarillo Coach Miki Mangan had no choice but to go with Nevard, who was coming off an impressive one-hit, 15-strikeout performance against Quartz Hill on Tuesday.

Many coaches would have been thankful not to have to face Ball, but Thousand Oaks Coach Gary Walin had a different sort of reaction--and for good reason.

“When [Ball] showed up with that [brace] on I said, ‘You gotta be kidding me,’ ” he said.

Ball, a junior right-hander, injured her thumb Wednesday night while pitching to Darwin Tolzin--the former Camarillo coach who now is the Westlake coach and Ball’s private pitching coach. During one of her windups, Ball jammed her thumb into her leg.

Walin, whose Lancers will face Upland in the semifinals at a neutral site Tuesday, had prepared his team for the hard-throwing Ball, who handed Thousand Oaks its last lost April 29.

“We put the pitching machine at about 30 feet [from the plate] and cranked it up to 100 miles per hour . . . and this is what you do to me?” Walin cracked.

Meanwhile, Thousand Oaks ace Jennifer Sharron (22-3) continued to dominate. The senior left-hander bound for Notre Dame was perfect through four innings and finished with a three-hitter. She had eight strikeouts and faced two over the minimum.

Thousand Oaks (26-3), the No. 2-seeded team, scored the only run it would need in the second. Kristin Combe singled up the middle, went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a sacrifice bunt by Colleen Spencer. Three pitches later, Sharron laid down a squeeze and Combe scored when Nevard’s flip to the catcher was late.

Camarillo (20-8) had a chance to tie in the fifth. Jessica Mendoza bunted for a single to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Allison Taverner hit a pop fly that landed in front of right fielder Shelly Teverbaugh, who tried to force out Mendoza at second. The throw went awry, however, and rolled past the third-base foul line.

After a head-first slide into second, Mendoza jumped to her feet and bolted for third. While she was running, the ball rolled out of play, resulting in a dead ball, and Mendoza sailed home. But the umpire ruled that the ball rolled out of play while Mendoza was still at second and made her return to third.

With runners at second and third, Kim Kasper popped up and Tommee Payan struck out.

The Lancers added a run in the sixth. Justine Rachlin reached second on a throwing error, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Jennifer Richard’s groundout.

Mendoza, who had two hits, singled with one out in the seventh. But Amanda Buttell’s liner was stabbed by first baseman Erika Hanson, who doubled up Mendoza.