Fiacco’s 3-Hitter and Cline’s Slam Lead Camarillo Past Westlake, 12-0

Camarillo High pitcher Charlie Fiacco blanked Westlake on three hits and Scott Cline belted a grand slam to lead the Scorpions to a 12-0 Marmonte League victory Wednesday.

Camarillo sent 11 men to the plate against Westlake starter John Alfred in the second inning, scoring four runs on four hits. Fiacco said the 20 minutes he spent on the bench while his team batted did not hinder his performance.

“I kind of like a rest between innings anyways,” Fiacco said. “I didn’t try to change anything when we got the big lead. I just kept trying to throw strikes.”

Things got worse for Westlake in the third when the first seven Scorpions reached base and scored, four of them on Cline’s towering drive over the center field fence.

“I wasn’t thinking about a home run at first, but then he got behind in the count by throwing curves and I knew he’d have to come back with a fastball,” Cline said. “I was looking for my pitch but I still didn’t get all of it.”

Camarillo (2-2) scored its first run when Angel Boroso, who had singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning, went home on a wild pitch.

After that it was all Fiacco--who struck out six batters and only allowed just three balls to be hit out of the infield--and the Camarillo offense.

“It wasn’t so much the inferiority of our pitching as it was the superiority of theirs,” Westlake Coach Mike McCurdy said. “We did make some pitching mistakes but give them the credit. Good hitters hit mistakes.”

Alfred, who was wild from the start, gave way to reliever Scott Sutherland when the first two Scorpions got aboard in the third. When things did go Alfred’s way he still got burned. In the second, Boroso went to first on a dropped third strike that kept the Scorpions’ inning alive.

“I was bringing the ball up and they were hitting it,” Alfred said. “My curve was working good today--but not very good.”

Westlake threatened in the first inning by putting men on second and third, but never again put two men on base in an inning.

Camarillo Coach Ken Wagner said he was glad the Scorpions did not become complacent after grabbing the big lead.

“I complimented them on that because we could’ve died but instead we kept up the intensity,” Wagner said. “I was telling the kids to play like the score was 0-0 and to try to improve every inning.”

The Warriors (2-3) prevented Camarillo from scoring more by turning double plays in each of the last three innings.

“Attitude is so important in baseball and our biggest battle is morale,” McCurdy said.

“We had some promising games in the beginning of the season but now we seem to be on down time. We’re still not out of the playoff race, but we’re struggling to find ourselves.”