Gallardo’s Gem Makes Decision Easy for Agoura

Agoura High baseball Coach Bryan Maloney wasn’t sure who his starting pitchers would be once the Marmonte League season began.

Last Thursday, Cary Gallardo made half of that decision easy.

After starting the season as the closer, Gallardo pitched a no-hitter against Van Nuys in his first start. Not surprisingly, Maloney named him the starter for today’s league opener at Thousand Oaks.

“I was setting him up during the preseason to be the closer,” said Maloney, whose team lost four of its first five games. “But since we weren’t in the situation to use him as a closer, I thought I’d have him start and see how he handled it.

“He ended up going in there and throwing a doozy.”

Gallardo, a senior right-hander, struck out eight and walked four, two of which were erased by double plays.

“The rest of the team was happier for him than he was for himself,” Maloney said. “He shows no expression, never gets excited about anything. He’s a very low-key type of kid.”

EAST VALLEY LEAGUE

Left-Handed Compliment

Roosevelt surprised Sylmar in more ways than one last week.

First of all, Sylmar Coach Gary Donatella figured he’d save ace Carlos Velazco for the championship game and throw junior varsity pitchers against host Roosevelt on Thursday in a semifinal game of the Sylmar tournament. Roosevelt responded with 19 hits in a 16-9 victory.

Secondly, the ground rules at Roosevelt seem to change depending on the number of left-handed batters in the lineup. The umpire told Donatella that Roosevelt had only one left-hander last year and any hit that cleared a 270-foot fence in right field was ruled a double.

A year later, Roosevelt is featuring five lefties. Guess what a ball hit over the right-field fence is now? A home run, of course. And Roosevelt batters hit three--including a grand slam.

“All of them were routine fly balls on our field,” said Donatella, whose team has no left-handed hitters.

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Poly (5-1) has made great strides in a year and is proving to be one of the better teams in the region. Last year the Parrots were outscored, 55-8, in their first five games, all losses. In the same span a year later, the Parrots have outscored their opponents, 24-10. Coach Chuck Schwal attributes the turnaround to a more experienced, close-knit team.

“It’s a totally different team,” said Schwal, who is in his second year. “Everybody gets along this season.”

Unity has its merits, but pitching is even more important. Last week, Hugo De La Torre (4-0) and Jerry Delgado (1-0) threw three-hit shutouts against Agoura and Granada Hills.

In a Valley Pac-8 Conference opener against Van Nuys on Monday, De La Torre tossed a two-hitter and extended his scoreless inning streak to 22.

ALPHA LEAGUE

A Pitch for Success

Hard to believe L.A. Baptist is 5-2 considering only two players are batting over .300. The keys? Pitching and defense.

The Knights’ earned-run average is 1.14. Matt Hernandez (3-0) and Nate Laufer (2-1) are keeping the team in games. Hernandez, 10-0 last season and an All-Southern Section selection, has 24 strikeouts in 21 innings and has given up only 10 hits and one earned run. Laufer has been scouted by the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.

The Knights have turned six double plays. Except in an 8-7 loss to La Canada, the defense has been exceptional. L.A. Baptist committed eight errors against La Canada but only four in the five victories.

Infielders Matt Barker, Jeff Baumsteiger and Zack Hernandez are playing well.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

Bulldog Effort

Call Ramiro Alvarez’s performance inspired. The Burbank pitcher did it all in a 2-1 victory over Fairfax last week. He threw a two-hitter, went three for three, stole home for the Bulldogs’ first run and drove in the winning run with a single.

Alvarez, normally a relief pitcher, entered the game with an ERA of 11.00.

CAMINO REAL LEAGUE

Bouncing Back

Bell-Jeff hit rock-bottom before finally recording a victory. The Guards lost their first four games, including a 20-2 bashing at the hands of Valley Christian before defeating St. Genevieve, 8-7.

“At least we didn’t throw the towel in after that horrible loss,” said Coach Craig Sherwood, who was hired in early February. He is still getting to know the players. It hasn’t been easy.

“It’s been a learning experience on both sides,” he said.

Around the Leagues . . .

* Camarillo’s Jake Spahr enters today’s game with hits in his last six at-bats. Through seven games, Spahr is batting .480 with eight RBIs.

* Canyon is off to a 2-4-1 start, but Mike Bland is off to the races. The sophomore second baseman is batting .550 and has a .667 on-base percentage.

* Village Christian is 7-1 behind Dave Gustafson and Mike Spielman, both of whom are batting .556. Mike Gallegos is hitting .500.

* Granada Hills center fielder Jimmy Landress is batting .529 with seven RBIs through the Highlanders’ first five games.

* Moorpark soccer player Jared Kira suffered a broken leg in a Southern Section all-star game Sunday. Kira, a senior defender, was an All-Southern Section Division V selection last season.

Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Jeff Fletcher, Irene Garcia, Dana Haddad and Paige A. Leech contributed to this notebook.