High School Baseball : Camarillo Rolls Seven in Seventh to Rock Thousand Oaks, 7-6

Yogi Berra’s much-quoted aphorism, “It’s not over till it’s over,” was proven correct again Friday afternoon.

Camarillo High, shut out for six innings by Thousand Oaks ace left-hander John Bushart, scored seven times in the seventh inning for an improbable 7-6 win in a Marmonte League game at Camarillo.

“This is the best comeback in my eight years here,” Camarillo Coach Ken Wagner said after his team won its fifth consecutive game, improving to 9-5, 2-1 in league play.

Even Wagner was surprised by the turn of events.

“I was trying to just say something to get them up for next week,” he said. “It shows we have a lot of heart and that’s encouraging.”

Winning pitcher Matt Tackett drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever Todd Lang to force home Mike Muncy with the winning run. One batter earlier, Thousand Oaks pitcher Brian Higgins walked Wesley Nathaniel to send Bill Lynch home with the tying run.

The Lancers led, 6-1, with one out and the bases loaded when Bushart was replaced by Steve Wolfe. Chris Johnson greeted Wolfe with a grand slam.

“Bushart was real tough on us,” Wagner said. “He handled us. We didn’t hit any more than two or three hard balls off him. I didn’t think we’d get to him, but in the seventh, he looked like he was tired and had trouble finding the plate.”

Thousand Oaks (4-4, 2-1) seemed headed for an easy win after Scott Barkman slugged a two-run home run in the first and Chris Grodell hit a three-run double in the third. The Lancers increased their lead to 6-0 in the sixth on Lance Martin’s solo home run.

In other Marmonte League games:

Simi Valley 9, Royal 1--Greg Santos’ two-run home run and Terry Hill’s run-scoring triple highlighted a nine-run first inning as the host Pioneers (14-1, 3-0) coasted to their 10th consecutive win.

Mike Jenkins (3-0) pitched a six-hitter, striking out five.

Westlake 9, Channel Islands 7--The Warriors nearly blew a 9-0 seventh-inning lead but hung on to post a win at home.

John Brookman (2-3) pitched four innings in a starting role, then re-entered in the seventh to snuff the Raiders’ rally. With none out and six runs across, Channel Islands’ Manuel Padilla was thrown out while jogging into second base after hitting what he apparently thought was a ground-rule double. After surrendering a run-scoring single, Brookman struck out David Lucio and pinch-hitter Chris Schindler.

Chuck Foster hit his fourth and fifth home runs for Westlake (6-7, 1-2), a two-run shot to highlight the Warriors’ three-run first inning and a solo shot to highlight a six-run fourth.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Saugus 5, Palmdale 4--J. B. Johnson’s two-out, two-run home run in the seventh capped a dramatic three-run rally for host Saugus. Johnson’s blow kept the Centurions (9-2-2, 3-0) in a first-place tie with cross-town rival Canyon.

Darrell Davis began the rally with a one-out walk. He stole second and advanced to third on an infield single by Matt Tull. George Lopata scored Davis with a sacrifice fly.

Johnson, who was two for three, then hammered a 0-1 pitch from Lonnie Potter over the left-field fence for his first home run.

Davis, a senior center fielder, stole two bases to raise his season total to 14 and set a school record with 44 career steals.

Canyon 7, Burroughs (R) 5--Senior right-hander Sean Nichols struggled early but rebounded to post a six-hitter with three strikeouts as host Canyon (6-6, 3-0) rallied twice to remain tied for first with Saugus.

Nichols (3-1) was tagged for two runs on three hits in the first but a four-run Canyon fourth fueled the win.

TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE

Moorpark 6, Oak Park 0--Robert Hernandez (4-0) pitched a four-hit shutout with six strikeouts and also tripled and scored twice for the host Musketeers (7-1, 3-0). Teammate Scott Semer drove in two runs, and Tom Uphoff and Mike Zamrock each had two hits.

The win was the Musketeers’ sixth straight and gave them a one-game lead over Oak Park (5-4, 2-1.)

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

Hart 16, Burbank 0--Hart catcher Casey Burrill hit his third home run of the season, a three-run shot in the second inning, to key a 16-hit attack for Hart (11-1, 2-0).

Burrill was two for four with four RBIs, senior David Toledo was three for five with one RBI and one run scored.

Hart’s Ray Gardocki was three for five with three RBIs and Lance Migita drove in two runs on two hits.

Burroughs 9, Alhambra 3--Tom Phillips blew open a one-run game with a three-run double in the third inning as the Indians (7-7, 1-2) evened their season record.

Phillips was three for three with six RBIs and also had a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Chris Westbury (3-2) pitched a complete game for his third consecutive win. He had seven strikeouts and was two for four with two doubles.

NONLEAGUE

Newbury Park 14, Nordhoff 2--Geoff Black hit two home runs and Eric Greene added another as the Panthers (11-1-3) rolled to a nonleague win at Nordhoff. Black was four for four with six RBIs, and Greene was three for four with four RBIs.