Stephenson Keys El Camino Real Victory

It was hardly a typical defensive move.

Coach Horace Consolo carefully relocated half of the Canoga Park High defense in the seventh inning Wednesday when El Camino Real’s Mike Stephenson came to the plate.

Pitcher Jason Mitchell moved to center field and replaced Adam Schulhofer, who moved to third base. Del Marine got bumped from third to second base and second baseman Ricky Banuelos took the mound.

When Consolo had finished shifting his team like a Rubik’s Cube, Stephenson shattered the first-year coach’s plan with a blockbuster swing of the bat.

Stephenson drilled Banuelos’ first pitch into the wide-open spaces of Lanark Park for a home run to give the Conquistadores a 6-4 West Valley League win and drop the defending City Section 4-A Division champions to an 0-2 start.

Consolo, however, did not second-guess his defensive shake-up.

“Gotta have somebody throw,” he said with a shrug. “I knew the one kid could play third, the one kid could play second and the one kid could pitch. He just got the ball a little too much over the plate.”

Stephenson’s first home run of the season gave El Camino Real (1-1) it’s third--and permanent--lead of the game. Pitcher Lance Gibson (1-0) set the Hunters down in order in the bottom of the seventh to notch a complete-game win.

Gibson scattered 5 singles and a double and picked Adrian Garcia off first in the sixth inning to disrupt one Hunter rally. He also struck out 4, including Marine, swinging, to end the game.

“I can’t take all the credit,” Gibson said. “It was the hitting. We lost to Kerber in 11 innings last year. We were determined to beat him.”

Actually, Canoga Park pitcher Mike Kerber, last season’s City player of the year, was relieved in the fifth inning and did not figure in the decision, keeping his career league record at 8-0.

Mitchell (0-1), one of four Canoga Park relievers, was charged with the loss.

Kerber, however, was hit hard, surrendering 3 runs and 7 hits in 5 innings. Denny Vigo clubbed a towering 2-run home run in the fifth inning. Designated-hitter Craig Ruble would have made it two home runs off Kerber, but he fell while rounding first base in the sixth inning and limped into second base with a long double.

“He had two strikes on me and he just hung me a slider,” Vigo said, gesturing with an imaginary bat. “I didn’t think it would go.”

Said Kerber: “That was a mistake. I couldn’t get the slider down. I still have a lot of conditioning to do.”

Canoga Park took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by Banuelos and a double by Kerber.