Camarillo Wins 2, Needs 2 More Today

Camarillo vs. Woodland Hills, take two.

After defeating Arcadia, 3-2, on Saturday at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium in the American Legion Sixth Area double-elimination playoffs, Camarillo has earned a second shot at Woodland Hills today at 10 a.m. Camarillo may think twice about that. In its first meeting with Woodland Hills, Camarillo was bombed Friday, 22-5.

And Camarillo must take two--sweep a doubleheader--in order to win the area championship. If Camarillo beats Woodland Hills on Sunday, the decisive game will follow at 3 p.m.

But the first beating, so bad that Camarillo forfeited after the seventh inning, is a fresh memory.

“They were awesome,” Camarillo shortstop Ken Sirak said. “It was definitely their day and they were that good on that day.”

“I don’t think that first game was a fluke,” Camarillo Coach Jack Willard said. “That wasn’t an illusion, that was for real. I don’t know how we’re going to keep up with them. I hope we get to a second game.”

Phil Maquinalez, who pitched eight strong innings Thursday before Willard replaced him, will start Sunday.

“We’re going to have our best pitcher going,” Willard said. “But no matter how good Phil is, they’ll get some runs off us.”

Sirak, who scored the winning run Saturday and made a run-saving defensive play late in the game, is more optimistic. “If we can win the first game, I think the momentum will carry us in the second,” he said.

When play began Saturday, four teams, each with one loss in the tournament, had a shot at making it to the championship game. All four, to win the area, faced the prospect of winning two games Saturday and two Sunday against Woodland Hills.

“Someone had to win four games in a row, so I guess it might as well be us,” Willard said.

Arcadia eliminated Hollywood, 10-6, and Camarillo knocked Westlake out, 11-5, setting up Saturday’s final game.

“As short as we were on pitching, we didn’t expect to make it,” Willard said.

The Camarillo pitching staff was hurting. Scott Bush, who started the Woodland Hills game, and Mike Chase, who was supposed to start against Arcadia, had sore arms.

So did Mike Henry, who pitched 3 innings of Friday’s loss. That may not sound like much, but Woodland Hills’ 21 hits in the game made it a long afternoon for anybody who took the mound. Travis Willis had pitched nine innings in the Westlake game. Maquinalez also wasn’t ready.

Except for second baseman Heath De La Torre and third baseman Chris Lillich, who have limited pitching experience, only left-handed pitcher Tom Petrucci remained.

“De La Torre and Lillich aren’t pitchers,” Willard said. “Those are guys you use to stand there and throw the ball over the plate.”

So Petrucci replaced Chase at the last minute. Then he went the distance, even surviving a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, with Camarillo leading, 3-2. Only one pitch from walking in the tying run, Petrucci got Chris Murphy to pop up to Sirak to end the game.

In the dugout, Willard breathed a sigh of relief. “I think the guy swung at a 3-1 ball,” he said. “It was up a little.”

Willard also was pleased that leaving in Petrucci didn’t backfire. “I had already screwed up by taking Maquinalez out of Thursday’s game, so we were pretty set to leave Petrucci in. He deserved to win or deserved his own fate.”

Sirak made that fate a good one by hitting a single to center to start the eighth. After advancing to second on Sean Luft’s ground out, Arcadia’s Mark Juhas threw a pitch that rolled a short distance from catcher Jim Ballard. Sirak broke for third and Ballard’s throw skipped into left field. Sirak scored to give Camarillo a 3-2 lead.