Jones Too Much for Simi Valley : High school baseball: Esperanza scores all its runs in the first inning, then cruises, 3-0, to Division I title behind right-hander’s two-hitter.

If Simi Valley High is the No. 1 high school baseball team in the nation, what does that make Esperanza right-hander Marcus Jones?

“There’s not a pitcher in (Southern Section) baseball we don’t think we can hit,” Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers said. “But this kid is very good.”

Too good for Simi Valley.

Jones smothered Simi Valley’s bid for a storybook climax to a storybook season by tossing a two-hitter Wednesday night at Anaheim Stadium to lead Esperanza to a 3-0 victory in the Southern Section Division I championship game before a crowd of 8,011.

Jones (12-2), a 6-foot-5, 195-pound senior right-hander, struck out four.

Esperanza (25-5), which recorded playoff wins over Simi Valley in 1986 and 1988, claimed its second section championship in Coach Mike Curran’s eighth season.

“They’re a bunch of good hitters,” Jones said of the Pioneers. “But my defense is the best around. (And) they looked confused up there.”

Simi Valley (27-4), which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, was a sleeping giant that didn’t awaken until the seventh inning.

Senior Britten Pond, who had both Pioneer hits, doubled into the right-field corner on the first pitch of the seventh and Kevin Nykoluk followed with a walk.

But Jones, after a brief visit from Curran, gave the ball a good rub, then rubbed out the Pioneers.

Ryan Hankins flied out to center, advancing Pond to third. After a walk to Bill Scheffels, designated hitter Jeff Michael grounded to shortstop Poncho Ruiz, who stepped on second and threw to first to complete a double play.

Jones’ heroics overshadowed a gutsy performance by Scheffels (11-2), who yielded only three hits and was tagged for one unearned run in the Aztecs’ three-run first inning.

Simi Valley trailed, 3-0, before an out was recorded in the bottom of the first. Esperanza was aided by errors by third baseman Hankins and Nykoluk, the catcher.

Hankins’ throwing error placed runners at second and third with none out. Ruiz followed with a two-run single, advancing to second on the throw to the plate. When Nykoluk threw wildly into center field, Ruiz came around to score.

Meanwhile, Jones retired the first eight batters he faced and 11 of the first 13.

The Pioneers threatened--and that’s stretching it--in the fourth and fifth innings.

In the fourth, Pond, who led the Pioneers this season with a .519 batting average, singled sharply to left field, then stole second with two out.

That brought Nykoluk to the plate. But the Pioneers’ power threat, who had hit four home runs in as many playoff games, failed to deliver, grounding to third to end the inning.

In the fifth, Hankins drew a leadoff walk, then Scheffels grounded sharply into a double play.

Things easily could have been worse if not for an outstanding defensive play by first baseman Scott Miller that short-circuited an Aztec rally in the second inning.

After a leadoff double by Bobby Ponce, Miller charged from first with Jeremy Viscusi showing bunt. However, Viscusi took a full swing and lined the ball into Miller’s mitt, about 30 feet away. Miller easily relayed to shortstop Ryan Briggs, who doubled Ponce off second.

In the Division II final, Lompoc scored in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Dos Pueblos, 3-2. Dos Pueblos, co-champion of the Channel League, scored twice in the top of the seventh to tie.