Agoura Can’t Get Untied, 2-2

WESTLAKE —  Now that pitching no longer reigns supreme in the Marmonte League, this season is shaping up to be quite a doozy.

In a nutshell, there’s Thousand Oaks and ace Nicole Angelo. And then there’s everybody else . . . with average pitchers.

League parity hasn’t been this prevalent in years, if ever. There are no more sure victories.

Consider, when undefeated Moorpark faced winless Newbury Park on Tuesday, one might guess the outcome a slam dunk. Nope. Newbury Park cruised to its first league victory, 5-0.

Then there are Agoura and Westlake, two of the region’s best teams, which began the week in the middle of the Marmonte League pack.

After finishing in a 2-2 tie Tuesday in a game called because of darkness after 10 innings, Agoura and Westlake are, well, still in the middle of the pack.

With victories so hard to come by, you’ll settle for the tie?

“Who wouldn’t?” Agoura Coach Brandy Brennan said.

With his team very much in the thick of things, Coach Garry Fetman of Westlake has to agree.

“As long as everybody keeps knocking off everybody else, we’re cool,” he said. “I like our chances. We’re right there.”

Agoura (4-3-1, 1-1-1 in league play), ranked No. 9 in the region by The Times, had to settle for a tie after banging out 11 hits and stranding nine runners.

No. 6-ranked Westlake (4-3, 1-2-1), which lost to Moorpark and Thousand Oaks after staking early leads, jumped to a 2-0 lead on Stephanie Savre’s two-run double in the second inning.

Rachel Murray singled and Tiffany Meadows reached base on an error to set up Savre’s blast to left-center field three batters later.

“With this league, you can’t afford one error,” Brennan said.

Agoura, which had a hit in every inning but the first and fourth, answered in the third on Tracy Grossman’s infield single to score Jamie Kogler, who doubled to lead off the inning.

The Chargers tied it, 2-2, on consecutive doubles by Grossman and Michelle Smith in the sixth.

Although Westlake had only six hits, two in the final eight innings, the Warriors were not without opportunity.

Agoura committed five errors, four in the final three innings.

But Westlake, which stranded five runners in the final three innings, couldn’t capitalize.

“For me, it’s a letdown,” Fetman said. “I thought we had this game.”

With runners at second and third and two out in the ninth, Ashley Jones flied out to left field.

An inning later, with runners at second and third and one out, Lindsay Tsumpes enticed a ground out and an infield pop fly.

“We had so many opportunities,” Fetman said. “We just couldn’t get that timely hit. That’s been our bane right now.

“Some day one of these girls is going to wake up and notice that [pitchers] are not throwing heat and will sit back and explode.”

Grossman, Smith and Jessie DePippo of Agoura each had two hits.