HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Simi Valley Grabs Share of Marmonte Lead With 4-3 Victory

Aaron Whitley went three for four to back strong pitching performances by starter Chris Devlin and reliever Trevor Leppard as Simi Valley High edged Camarillo, 4-3, Wednesday to move into a tie with Royal for first place in the Marmonte League.

Devlin (4-0) allowed five hits in 4 1/3 innings and Leppard pitched 2 2/3 innings of two-hit relief to earn his third save.

Kevin Nykoluk and Jason Houchen each had two hits and one run batted in for visiting Simi Valley (15-5, 7-2 in league play).

Camarillo, 9-9 overall, fell into last place in the league at 2-7.

In other baseball games:

Channel Islands 5, Agoura 1--Senior right-hander Angel Aragon (8-2) pitched a five-hitter with six strikeouts and hit a 400-foot solo home run to lead the host Raiders (17-4, 6-3) in a Marmonte League game.

Channel Islands’ Sam Monroy, who missed three weeks after being spiked in the leg, was three for four with one RBI in his first game back in the lineup.

Thousand Oaks 9, Newbury Park 0--Senior right-hander Craig Arnold (3-6) struck out three, walked none and scattered three hits for Thousand Oaks (4-15-1, 3-6) in a Marmonte League game at Newbury Park.

It was the second shutout of the season for Arnold, a control specialist with an excellent curve and changeup. His earned-run average dropped from 3.41 to 2.93.

Senior infielder Jeff Olin was three for four, including a pair of doubles, to pace the Lancers’ 13-hit attack. Olin raised his batting average to .390.

Jamal Nichols and Matt Elam each were three for four with three RBIs for Thousand Oaks.

Newbury Park is 10-9, 5-4 and in fourth place in the league.

Crespi 12, St. Paul 2--The visiting Celts exploded for 17 hits, including six for extra bases, in a Mission League game.

Brodie Van Wagenen had a solo home run and Jim Horacek had two doubles and an RBI in three at-bats. Casey Snow was two for two, including a triple, and had four RBIs.

Joe Ruggiero was three for three with three runs and two RBIs.

Senior right-hander Jeff Suppan (5-2) went the distance, striking out 11 and walking three. Suppan also had a triple.

St. Bernard 4, Notre Dame 3--St. Bernard scored three seventh-inning runs--with the help of two walks--handing junior left-hander Chris Garza his first loss in a Mission League game at Notre Dame.

Garza (8-1) walked nine and hit one batter. He walked Derrick Smith--St. Bernard’s ninth hitter in the lineup--to lead off the seventh. A double, sacrifice fly, walk and double later, St. Bernard led, 4-3.

Paul Lopez and Robert Cox doubled for St. Bernard (12-9-1, 5-3).

Jimmy Landress went two for four with two RBIs for Notre Dame. Landress hit a two-run double to score Dave Supple and Francisco Dongo, giving Notre Dame (12-6-1, 6-2) a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

Supple’s single drove in Cesar Martinez to make it 3-1 in the sixth.

Reseda 7, Taft 6--Sophomore right-hander Carlos Nunez got the win and senior right-hander John Granillo earned his second save as host Reseda (3-13, 1-11) nearly squandered a 7-0 lead in a West Valley League game.

Reseda scored five runs in the first inning and two in the fourth while Nunez (2-5) held Taft scoreless through four innings.

Taft scored five runs in the fifth and one in the sixth against Nunez. Granillo pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Will Skett had a pair of doubles in four at-bats and drove in two runs for Reseda.

Chatsworth 9, El Camino Real 4--Dave Stevenson’s fifth-inning grand slam broke a 2-2 tie and propelled the host Chancellors to a West Valley League win. Stevenson was three for three and scored a run.

Eddie Ramos was two for three and scored three runs for Chatsworth (11-9, 7-5).

Senior right-hander Jesse Yeomans (4-2) pitched 5 2/3 innings to earn the win.

Senior right-hander Eric Holliday pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and earned his first save.

Providence 12, Oakwood 2--Senior right-hander Rick Mena (4-0) had 14 strikeouts for visiting Providence in a Liberty League game.

San Fernando 5, Cleveland 0--Jorge Gonzales pitched a four-hitter, San Fernando’s second shutout of Cleveland this week, and Jose Nunez had four RBIs in a North Valley League victory for San Fernando (9-8, 5-7).

Nunez had a two-run, bases-loaded single in San Fernando’s three-run seventh. He had an RBI single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the second.

Ethan Rodriguez had two hits, two walks and three runs for San Fernando. Gonzales struck out five. Only one runner reached third base.

John Romero pitched a five-hitter in San Fernando’s 3-0 victory Monday.

Alemany 11, Chaminade 10--Dave Castillo went three for four and Ed Bushey had two hits, including a two-run home run in the fourth, to lead the Indians in a Mission League game.

Mike Andry had three hits for Chaminade (3-19, 0-8), which has lost 18 consecutive games.

SOFTBALL

Alemany 1, Notre Dame 0--Only three Notre Dame runners reached base against Sophie Contreraz--two via singles and one via an error--as host Alemany won a Mission League game.

Alemany (13-5, 4-1) moved into a first-place tie with Notre Dame (7-9, 4-1).

Alemany scored in the fifth. Steffanie Parks doubled with one out, and with two out Tanya Ortiz hit an RBI single.

Bell-Jeff 12, St. Genevieve 1--Amiee Huett, Andrea Fershaw and Kelli Garrett each had two hits to lead the Guards (9-8, 3-2) in a five inning San Fernando League game.

Sophomore right-hander Carrie Breedlove (8-8) threw a one-hitter and struck out nine.

BOYS’ TRACK

Nordhoff 117, Fillmore 14--Dan Paine won three events and Bill Tallakson won two to help host Nordhoff win the dual-meet portion of the Frontier League title.

Paine won the high jump (6 feet), the long jump (19-8 1/2) and the triple jump (41-4 1/2) for Nordhoff (7-0, 4-0).

Tallakson took the mile in 4:52.2 and the two-mile in 10:19.6.

Northwest Valley Conference prelims--Sam Salter and Drue Powell of Reseda each won qualifying heats in two events at Birmingham High. Salter timed 11.22 in the 100 meters and 22.22 in the 200. Powell won his heat of the 110-meter high hurdles in a personal best of 14.3 and timed 40.9 in the 300 intermediate hurdles.

Jaffers Bailey of El Camino Real was a double heat winner in the 400 (49.99) and the 110 highs (15.23). The conference finals will be held Wednesday at Birmingham.

GIRLS’ TRACK

Nordhoff 67, Fillmore 60--Melissa Hann and Charlee Bell each won two events for host Nordhoff in the Frontier League meet.

The win clinched the dual-meet portion of the league title for Nordhoff (7-0, 4-0). Hann won the 110-yard low hurdles in 17.5 and the 330 lows in a personal best of 49.7. Bell took the long jump (15-8 1/2) and the triple jump (33-1).

Northwest Valley Conference prelims--Patrice Lattimore of Granada Hills won qualifying heats in three events in the meet at Birmingham High. Lattimore timed 12.73 in the 100, 25.23 in the 200, and 58.61 in the 400.

VOLLEYBALL

Van Nuys d. Birmingham, 15-11, 15-6, 9-15, 15-13--Manny Vlachos had 10 kills as host Van Nuys (12-1, 10-1) won the Valley Pac-8 Conference title. Birmingham (10-3, 9-2) was the defending champion.