Camarillo Unable to Hold Lead in 9th : American Legion: District 16 champion strands 12 baserunners in 5-2 loss to Claremont.

Camarillo’s John Boardman repeatedly used well-placed fastballs and sharp curves to take the bite out of Claremont’s bats Friday.

Unfortunately for Boardman, his teammates’ attack was equally toothless.

Claremont pried open the jaws of defeat in the ninth inning, scoring four runs to hand Camarillo a 5-2 loss in the second round of the American Legion 6th Area baseball tournament at Jackie Robinson Field.

Camarillo (21-4), which left 12 runners on base and seven in scoring position, will play Conejo Valley (23-10) today at 12:30 p.m. in an elimination game. Claremont (38-9), the 1988 champion, advanced to Sunday’s title game and must lose twice to forfeit its second trip to the state playoffs in three years.

The loss was particularly galling to Camarillo, which twice loaded the bases without scoring, including a nerve-testing eighth inning while holding a slim 2-1 lead.

Camarillo loaded the bases with nobody out on consecutive singles from Mike Mitchell, Mike Muncy and Corey Tucker (two for three). But Claremont left-hander Bob Barcelona (5-2), who earned the save in Claremont’s 8-7 win over Woodland Hills West on Thursday, entered the game and struck out the side.

“We were just hoping to get the first strikeout, then get a double-play ball,” Claremont Coach Jack Helber said. “But (Barcelona) went out and got all three.”

The second of the three victims was Kasha Clemons, who was two for two with a double when he helplessly flailed at a sharply breaking curve.

“That was frustrating,” Clemons said. “I guarantee that if we get one run there, they don’t score in the ninth.”

But Camarillo came up with more strikeouts than runs, and Claremont scored four times in the top half of the ninth.

Claremont loaded the bases on Randy DuRoss’ single, Steve Esquibel’s double, and a walk to Brian Lott. Bob Skapik followed with a two-run bloop single that fell among three Camarillo players in center field and gave Claremont a 3-2 lead.

“If that ball falls a couple inches either way, it’s an out,” assistant coach Rick Torres said. “We hit the ball well.”

After first baseman Matt Tackett made a diving stop of a ground ball and recorded the second out, Jorge Paz hit a two-run double off the right-field fence that extended Claremont’s lead to 5-2.

Claremont’s four-run outburst spoiled a heroic performance by Boardman (6-1), a right-hander from Point Loma College who allowed only five hits through eight innings.

“He battled his tail off for eight innings,” Torres said. “He did everything right, but that’s baseball.”

Said Helber, the opposing coach: “He did the best job of any pitcher we’ve faced this season.”

Camarillo, the District 16 champion, had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Clemons singled, advanced a base on a wild pitch, went to third on Tim Cornish’s infield hit, then scored on Tackett’s grounder to short.

Camarillo added a run in the second when Clemons’ double scored Boardman, who had reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt.

Claremont, the District 18 champion, ended Boardman’s shutout in the fifth with an unearned run. Esquibel led off with a single and advanced to third on second baseman Tucker’s two-base throwing error. Catcher Mitch King caught Esquibel off first, and Tucker fired the ball into Camarillo’s dugout.

Ernie Ramirez followed with an RBI ground out.

Camarillo left runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings and also was unable to score after loading the bases with two out in the sixth.

Yet despite Camarillo’s struggles, the coaching staff was pleased with the performance.

“We’re very proud of them,” he said. “We flat-out played good baseball. It’s just a game of inches, and we came up short.”