Valley Revs Up Drive to Make WSC Playoffs

Less than two weeks ago, the Valley College baseball team limped home from an 8-2 loss to Pierce with a 5-6-1 Western State Conference record and fleeting hopes of postseason play.

As Valley Coach Chris Johnson said, the opportunity presented itself for the Monarchs to “hit the tank.”

Instead, Valley has rolled out the tanks. With four wins in their past five WSC games, the Monarchs (14-16-1, 9-7-1) have jumped back into the playoff hunt with three WSC games to play.

“They have just battled their heads off,” Johnson said of his team, which has played eight games in 10 days because of rainout makeups. “We’ve been getting some clutch pitching performances.”

The biggest clutch performance came Tuesday when Mario Joy, a starting infielder, shut out second-place Ventura, 2-0, with a five-hitter that featured seven strikeouts and no walks.

“That was just outstanding,” Johnson said of Joy’s 91-pitch effort in only his second start.

Joy, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound sophomore with a strong arm, has stepped to the fore since transferring to Valley last fall from Pasadena City, for which his playing time was limited.

The No. 3 hitter in the lineup, Joy entered the Ventura game with a .367 batting average.

Valley was no-hit by Cerritos in a 9-0 loss Wednesday in a nonconference game, but that will be forgotten when WSC play resumes.

HIT DEBUT

Cal State Northridge freshman Tyler Nelson turned in an impressive outing Sunday against Nevada in his first collegiate start.

Filling in for Denny Vigo at third base, Nelson handled five chances without an error and picked up his first hit, a sharp single in the eighth inning of CSUN’s 9-4 win.

“I brought him here to contribute,” Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said of the 6-2, 190-pound Nelson, a former Simi Valley High player who also catches.

Another Matador freshman who recorded a first Sunday was Poly High product Jonathan Campbell, who pinch-ran for Nelson in the eighth and stole his first base.

BOUNCING AVERAGE

Northridge’s Mike Sims had six hits in 10 at-bats in three games against Nevada last weekend, raising his batting average from .257 to .287.

Sims had two hits in each game, but the first was the most memorable: He batted the ball off the front end of home plate, sending it in a high loop toward first base. It landed about 40 feet up the line, rolled within inches of the baseline and came to a stop. Sims couldn’t veil a sheepish grin. It was his first hit in four games.

Continuing his hot streak Tuesday, Sims went three for five against the University of San Diego, raising his average to .300.

Sims had another three hits against Loyola Marymount to improve to .312.

BAD TIMING

Sasha Vujic of Cal State Northridge set his third personal best of the season when he finished third in the mile in 4 minutes 8.12 seconds in the Fresno Relays at Fresno City College on Saturday, yet he was disappointed with the time.

“I was shooting for 4:03 or 4:04,” Vujic said. “But I just didn’t run that well in the last two laps. I kind of got intimidated by the guys in front of me.”

Ernie Freer of the Bulldog Track Club won in a meet-record 3:59.04, followed by Brian Abshire of the Reebok Aggies in 4:05.04. Abshire was the No. 7-ranked runner in the U.S. in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 1991.

Vujic timed 2:00.8 for the first 880 yards at Fresno, and 3:04.3 at the 1,320 mark before running his last 440 in 63.8 seconds.

“At least now, I know I can go through the first two laps in two minutes and be comfortable,” Vujic said. “I’ve just got to work on the last (two laps).”

Ron Twersky and staff writers Mike Hiserman and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.