Prep Baseball : Simi Puts on Quite a Show in Las Vegas

Unleashing an offensive show worthy of the Las Vegas Strip, Simi Valley High’s baseball team roared through the first two rounds of the Greg Sylvester Memorial Tournament Thursday.

The Pioneers drubbed Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, 19-2, in the opening game, then battered Mt. Carmel of San Diego, 7-2, in the next round.

Coach Mike Scyphers’ club had 16 hits in each game, batting .464 for the day and raising the team’s season batting average to .450. In the second game, everyone in the lineup had at least one hit.

“Right now, we’re responding very well offensively,” said Scyphers after the second game. “Our pitching is doing very well, too. We gave up one earned run in each of the games and now the staff earned run average is under 2.00. We’re really dominating our opponents.”

Simi Valley is 17-0, tying a Ventura County record for most consecutive wins in a season.

The Pioneers must now be considered as a favorite in the tournament. They play Pleasant Grove (Utah) today in a game at noon, then follow it with another game Saturday in the 16-team tournament.

The team with the best record will be the champion. Total runs scored will serve as the tie-breaker. With 26 runs after the first day, Simi Valley is in a favorable position.

In the first game, Simi Valley broke open a close game with 15 runs in the last three innings. Leading, 4-2, the Pioneers scored 5 in the fifth, 7 in the sixth and 3 in the seventh.

In the fifth, Eric Fischer drove in a run with a double after Mike Hankins and Shawn Murphy singled. Glenn Davis singled in two and then stole second.

Chris Hale drove in another run with a double and Ralph Sheldon drove in Hale with a single.

In the next inning, Davis, Hale and Regan Furcolo each drove in single runs before Tom Sullivan’s two-run homer. An error and a passed ball scored the other two runs.

Fischer, who finished 3 for 4, drove in his third run of the game in the last inning after Hankins tripled. Hankins was 2 for 2 and scored four runs.

Murphy (2-0) was the winning pitcher, striking out eight and walking two. He also went 2 for 5 with an RBI.

Simi Valley, in its second game of the day, scored five runs in the fifth inning to give Scott Radinski his fourth win of the season without a loss. Radinski struck out seven and walked three.

Leading, 2-1, in the fifth, Tom Sullivan and Dave Milstein singled. Hankins drove in one run with a base hit, and Duane Mulville, Davis and Sheldon drove in one each later in the inning. Milstein led the attack in the second game by going 4-for-4. Hankins had three more hits for the winners.