High School Baseball : Tackett Lifts Camarillo to Victory, 2-1

It seems that for Westlake High Coach Rich Herrera, the baseball world is indeed a small one.

Herrera, a first-year coach at Westlake, saw two former players from his American Legion District 16 championship team lead Camarillo past Westlake, 2-1, Wednesday in the consolation championship game of the Thousand Oaks tournament.

Matt Tackett, a junior right-hander who pitched for Herrera’s Camarillo legion team last summer, threw a five-hitter and also drove in the winning run in the seventh inning when he singled in ex-Legion teammate Steve Biggs.

Junior infielder Mike Lieberthal accounted for Westlake’s (5-6) only run when he hit a solo home run in the fourth inning.

In other games:

Simi Valley 7, El Camino 3--Andy Hodgins and Chadd Johnson each had two hits to lead Simi Valley in a semifinal game of the Serra tournament in San Mateo. Hodgins had two runs batted in to give him 12 in three tournament games.

Terry Hill relieved Simi Valley starter Kenny Hood (2-1) with two out and the bases loaded in the sixth, got the first batter he faced to ground out and went on to earn a save.

Simi Valley (11-1) plays St. Francis of San Francisco for the championship today at 1 p.m.

Chaminade 8, St. Bonaventure 1--Sophomore Greg Galloway pitched his second complete game and picked up his first win in the nonleague game at St. Bonaventure.

The left-handed Galloway (1-1) scattered seven hits, struck out eight and walked two. He gave up an unearned run in the seventh.

Chaminade (2-6) broke the game open with a five-run fourth, the key hits being Tony Collatos’ two-run single and Pete Miller’s RBI single.

Collatos was one for three with three RBIs, Aaron Weis was one for two with two RBIs and Colin Havert was one for four with two RBIs as the Eagles won their second consecutive game.

St. Francis 15, St. Genevieve 1--Right-hander Mitch Bowen had a no-hitter through five innings and finished with a four-hitter in a nonleague game at St. Francis.

Mark Loretta’s three-run home run in the first inning sparked a nine-run outburst for the Golden Knights (3-4-1).

St. Genevieve managed only a ground single to lead off the sixth and three singles in the seventh off Bowen (1-0), who walked three and struck out three.

Crescenta Valley 6, Kingman (Ariz.) 4--Eric Berger had three RBIs and Shane Cowsill went two for three for the Falcons in a fourth-round game of the Eldorado tournament in Las Vegas.

Cowsill started the fifth inning with a double and Mike Starkey walked. Both advanced on Scott Gleason’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by Eric Berger to turn a 2-0 Crescenta Valley lead into a 4-0 advantage.

Kingman cut the Falcons’ lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth, but Crescenta Valley scored twice in the sixth.

De La Salle 7, Agoura 6--Alex Vasquez hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to give De La Salle of Concord a victory in the third-place game of the Thousand Oaks tournament.

With two out, Steve Wilkalis walked and Vasquez teed off on Zac Miller’s two-and-two pitch.

Agoura claimed the lead, 6-5, in the eighth when Brian Smith hit a home run. Nelson Townes was two for four with three stolen bases and two runs scored for the Chargers.