El Camino Real Turns Four Hits Into a 12-4 Win : High school baseball: Conquistadores capitalize on wildness of Kennedy’s pitchers.

Looking for a hero in Wednesday’s game between El Camino Real and Kennedy highs? Better buy a 100-watt light bulb, pull up a chair and prepare to look long and hard at the scribblings in the ol’ score book.

And bust out the spectacles, too, because El Camino Real’s 12-4 win at Kennedy was enough to leave most folks squinting, if not wincing.

Hero candidates in the Northwest Valley Conference game included El Camino Real right-hander Pat Treend, who threw a four-hitter but walked 10 batters and hit another.

“It was ugly,” said Treend, declining the nomination.

Anyone for Gregg Sheren, Jeff Marks, Ryan McGuire or Jason Cohen, all of whom drove in runs in El Camino Real’s eight-run fifth inning? Guess again--each drew a bases-loaded walk.

“We couldn’t throw a strike that entire inning,” Kennedy Coach Manny Alvarado said.

The entire El Camino Real offense, perhaps? Afraid not, the team scored those 12 big runs on three singles and a double.

“I think both teams were a little rusty,” El Camino Real Coach Mike Maio said. “Let’s just say that both teams were not sharp.”

With the score tied, 4-4, in the fifth, El Camino Real (12-1-1, 9-0-1 in league play) rallied, sort of, against senior left-hander Denny Sharp.

Sharp (4-4), who last year battled periodically with his control, wobbled again, walking seven batters in the inning. Before Sharp was relieved by Rich Trujillo, he received a tongue-lashing from the plate umpire for questioning several close calls.

“I think it’s all mental,” Sharp said. “I’m not proud of what I said. . . . I don’t think I ever lost it like that before.”

Kennedy (12-6, 7-3) seems to have temporarily lost the winning edge as well. The Golden Cougars have lost five of six and have been outscored, 57-15, in that span. The streak includes three consecutive losses in conference play, on the heels of a 7-0 start.

“I don’t think we’re in trouble,” Alvarado said. “I was proud of our guys for six innings. We just didn’t throw a strike in that one inning.”

Sharp walked McGuire to lead off the fifth, and one out later, walked Bobby Kim and Greg Lederman to load the bases. Sharp then jumped ahead of Treend, one and two, before serving up a curveball away.

Treend (7-0) fouled off the pitch, but his bat hit catcher Lazaro Campos’ glove. Treend received a pass to first on catcher’s interference and forced in McGuire with what proved to be the winning run.

“I was looking for a curve and just tried to stick (the bat) out there,” Treend said.

Before the third out was recorded, El Camino Real had converted nine walks, one hit, a wild pitch and a catcher’s interference into eight runs. Kim’s two-run single off Trujillo was the lone hit.

Like Sharp, Treend also retreated to the habits of his junior year, when the strike zone routinely looked like a postage stamp. “That definitely looked like the old me,” said Treend, who struck out seven but walked at least one batter in every inning. “The fastball just didn’t have much on it today.”

Treend allowed just two hits after the first inning, a double by Billy Ramirez in the fifth and a single by Campos in the sixth. He admitted the game was short on aesthetics, but said it didn’t really matter.

“We weren’t too great on defense, we weren’t too great on offense, but we got through it,” Treend said.