Scheffels, Simi Valley Given a Lift : High school baseball: Ace is off form, but Royal errors start Pioneers on the way to 11-5 Marmonte victory.

Simi Valley High pitcher Bill Scheffels needed an early boost.

Rusty from a 2 1/2-week break between starts, the ace of the Pioneer staff didn’t have his best stuff against visiting Royal. But thanks to a four-run first inning led by Scheffels’ triple, Simi Valley cruised to an 11-5 Marmonte League victory Friday.

Scheffels gave up five earned runs and four hits, including two home runs, in six innings but the Pioneer offense came through early--thanks to a few breaks courtesy of Royal.

The game started on an inauspicious note for the Highlanders (4-3, 1-1 in league play). Simi Valley leadoff hitter Kary Kozlowski reached first base on a routine ground ball when the throw by shortstop Joel Mellinger pulled the first baseman off the bag.

Kozlowski scored after a double by Tim Nykoluk and a wild pitch by David Vicari (0-1).

Ryan Hankins hit another routine grounder, but the ball skipped past third baseman Brent Egan. Scheffels followed with a triple down the right-field line and the Highlanders were down, 2-0, and had committed two errors before the first out.

“We weren’t mentally into it,” Royal Coach Dan Maye said. “We had four sophomores out there and we were tight, partly because we were playing Simi Valley and partly because we weren’t ready. We had some communication problems and it just took a while to settle down.”

Egan, one of the four sophomores, made two outstanding plays on grounders later in the game.

Staked to a 4-0 lead, Scheffels (3-0) battled his control in the second inning. He walked Egan on four pitches to start the inning, then threw two wild pitches to the next batter, enabling Egan to score on a ground ball by Shawn Fossen, cutting the deficit to 5-1.

“I think he struggled some the entire game,” Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers said. “He didn’t have his curveball working and he definitely didn’t have his best stuff, but when he got the lead, he was able to hold on.”

Scheffels didn’t have any control problems the rest of the game, but in the fourth inning Mellinger homered over the center-field wall to bring Royal to within 5-2.

Scheffels settled down until there were two out in the sixth inning when Egan tripled and designated hitter Maki Kramer homered on consecutive pitches.

“I knew we had the big lead and I just wasn’t concentrating,” Scheffels said. “I wasn’t tired. It was just a kind of ho-hum type of game.”

Vicari, making his second start of the season, kept the Pioneers (6-1, 2-0) in check until the fifth inning, when mistakes by Royal gave Simi Valley more chances.

Robert Gonzalez bunted directly to Vicari, whose throw was dropped by first baseman Adrian Mendoza. After a single by Kozlowski and a sacrifice by Nykoluk, the Highlander pitching self-destructed.

Vicari was replaced by Phillip Derryman after walking two batters on eight consecutive pitches. Derryman hit the first two batters he faced, gave up a run-scoring single by Jevon Markarian and walked another batter, giving Simi Valley an 11-2 lead.

“I think David was mentally down after a couple of mistakes were made behind him and he pitched defensively instead of being aggressive,” Maye said. “We need an attitude check sometimes.”

Derryman got only one out before being replaced by sophomore Matt Pittstick, who got the final out after the Pioneers sent 11 batters to the plate.