Simi Valley Keeping Grip on Its Game

Why is Simi Valley, with only three returning starters, winning as often as it did last year?

Defense.

The Pioneers committed only seven errors through their first 10 games, nine of them victories. Last year’s team, which finished 27-4 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season, made 22 errors in its first 10 games.

The strength of the defense has been an infield of third baseman Ryan Hankins, shortstop Dan Schwartz, second baseman Tim Nykoluk and first basemen Bill Scheffels and Brian Kavanagh, who plays first when Scheffels pitches.

“The pitching and the defense is what is winning ballgames for us,” Coach Mike Scyphers said. “I just think they are kind of a roll right now and making every play.”

The pitching Scyphers referred to is courtesy of Scheffels (5-0, 2.65 earned-run average) and right-hander Kary Kozlowski (4-0, 1.27).

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Kaup Shows Stuff

Camarillo baseball Coach Jack Willard has found one positive in the team’s 0-4 league start: pitcher Nathan Kaup.

Kaup was the Scorpions’ second baseman, but as Camarillo continued to lose, Willard started to experiment. So he brought in Kaup to pitch. In two outings, Kaup has given up two earned runs in nine innings.

“His arm is decent and we figured we’d give him a shot just to see someone different,” Willard said. “We’ve put him in some important situations and he’s kept us in games. For the limited time he’s been on the mound, he’s pretty poised and handles situations well.”

*

Agoura Coach Bryan Maloney finally has his team’s defense figured out.

“Every day that we’ve taken a bad infield (practice), we play well,” Maloney said, “and when we take infield pretty solidly, we make mistakes during the game. Maybe we should get all the mistakes out of the way during infield.”

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Speed Thrills

Life in the fast lane: Palmdale has 67 stolen bases in 12 games.

“That’s already off to a good start,” Coach Kent Bothwell said.

That’s not a good start, that’s a good season.

The Falcons have six players with seven or more thefts, including shortstop Jerome Payton, who has stolen 19 bases in 20 attempts.

Rounding out the list are Bob Harmon (12), Charo Boyer (10) and Dan Soto, Chris Gravois and Tim Guzman (seven each).

“That’s kind of been our style,” Bothwell said. “It really puts pressure on opposing teams.”

*

Add Palmdale: Harmon’s versatility has been a key for the Falcons’ winning nine of 12 games. The senior is the team’s leading hitter (.467), second in doubles (3), triples (2) and runs batted in (11) and the left-handed pitcher is 2-1 with a 2.55 earned-run average.

“He’s doing a little bit of everything for us,” Bothwell said. “He’s really come on and played some great baseball.”

*

Perhaps the descent was inevitable. Antelope Valley center fielder Chris Tapia was so hot at the start of the season, it’s a wonder he didn’t set off smoke alarms.

In a game against Littlerock two weeks ago, Tapia went five for five with two doubles, two triples and a home run, scoring five runs and driving in eight. His batting average stood at .632.

“That’s quite a game, huh?” Antelope Coach Ed t’Sas said. “There’s only one way to go from there.”

Hint: It isn’t up.

Since that game, Tapia has gone three for 20 and his average has dropped to .384.

“We’re just trying to keep him on an even keel,” t’Sas said. “He’ll be fine. He’s a wonderful all-around player--as a baserunner and a defensive player--and I think he’s a joy to coach.”

*

Highland’s close shaves keep ending with a painful nick.

The Bulldogs (2-10) have lost seven games by one run. In all seven they have led in the fourth inning or later.

“It’s kind of a good news/bad news thing,” Coach Mike Van Cheri said. “The good news is, you know you’re right there. The bad news is we lose. I guess we’re the best 2-10 team you’ll see.”

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Jamaal Chase of Quartz Hill has been moved into a tie for seventh on the all-time region list in the boys’ long jump after the results from the Beverly Hills Invitational on Mar. 26 were revised.

The Rebel senior was initially credited with a second-place mark of 23-10 1/2 behind the winning 23-11 of Pomona’s Lurea Frazier. But when the result cards were reviewed, both athletes were credited with marks of 23-11, with Chase winning the competition because his second-best jump was farther than Frazier’s.

If Chase adds another inch to his long jump best, he will become the second athlete from the region to have recorded at least 24 feet in the long jump and 49 feet in the triple jump.

Paul Jones, a 1981 graduate of Kennedy High, spanned 24-6 1/2 in the long jump and 49-0 in the triple jump for the Golden Cougars.

Chase recorded a personal best of 49-3 in the triple jump in the Sunkist Invitational in February.

NORTHWEST VALLEY

Lighting a Fire

If it was ever truly a slump, it is over now.

Chatsworth shortstop Bryan LaCour’s bat--so hot last season when he hit .448 and led the Chancellors to the City Section’s 4-A championship game, but so cool for much of this young season--is officially on fire again.

In the team’s four games in the Las Vegas Bishop Gorman tournament last weekend, LaCour went nine for 13 (.692) with two doubles, two triples, a home run and 14 RBIs.

The weekend streak raised his batting average 114 points to .474. He hovered around the .200-.300 mark for much of the early season.

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Maybe every team should have a set.

At Chatsworth, identical twins Rod and Ray Daryabigi have combined to hit .493 (35 for 71).

At Taft, twins Nick and Mike Andrisano are hitting a combined .363 (16 for 44).

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With a 4-3 victory over Chatsworth, the Granada Hills boys’ tennis team took over the spotlight in City tennis Monday. Chatsworth was the defending 4-A champion. Are the Highlanders the new City power? Their record is 7-1.

“We’re in the best league in the City,” Coach Ron Wood said. “This is the best team we’ve played to date. It was a big, emotional win.”

Granada Hills (4-0 in conference play) swept the doubles. The No. 2 team of James White and Kevin Kim improved to 10-0, while No. 3 Eric Yean and Thomas Ma moved to 7-0.

But the Highlanders won only one of four singles matches--the last match played. Justin Graham outlasted Jeff Heidner, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 4 singles.

“It’s a lot of pressure on the kids,” Wood said. “But that’s how American heroes are made.”

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Talk to Me Later

Moorpark has raced to a 10-1 record (5-0 in league play) with what Coach David Rhoades called decent pitching, good hitting and outstanding defense. Brian Garrettson carries a .451 batting average and leads six Musketeers with averages of .300 or higher. He also has five doubles, 13 RBIs and a 3-0 pitching record with 27 strikeouts in 20 innings.

Center fielder Jason Adamson is batting .416 with seven stolen bases and has scouts watching him. Shortstop Rick Collier is batting .387 with eight stolen bases.

All is well in Musketeerland, but Rhoades warns, “Nobody remembers how you start. It’s how you finish. And that’s been sticking with me.”

*

In Calabasas’ 1-0 loss at Santa Clara last week, Coyote pitcher Anthony Kaufman (2-1) pitched a one-hitter. Calabasas, the preseason league favorite, was rolling along at 6-0 but is 0-2 in league play.

CHANNEL LEAGUE

South of the Border

The Oxnard baseball team will renew its annual relationship with Plantel Mexicali II by playing a doubleheader in Mexicali, Mexico, on Saturday.

“We’ve been friends with this particular school for six or seven years,” Yellowjacket Coach Jack Dalton said. “They are fairly competitive on our level.”

TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE

Not Again

Oak Park’s 1993 season was ruined by injuries. So how does Coach Mike Bolyog react when he learns his stolen-base leader has torn ligaments and three of his pitchers have gone down with shoulder problems in the midst of a 7-1-1 season?

“It’s a bit of a scare,” Bolyog said. “But the good news is (the three pitchers) will probably come back healthy in a week or so. We have more depth and different kinds of injuries.”

Bolyog is not ready to panic despite the following:

-- Pitcher/first baseman Todd Christensen (.500 batting average) hasn’t been able to swing a bat because of a torn muscle in his non-pitching shoulder.

-- Pitcher Brent Schneider has been limited to three innings because of tendinitis in his pitching shoulder. Schneider, 6-2, 210 pounds, has a .368 average and nine RBIs.

-- Pitcher Camron Marcarelli (2-1, 1.79 ERA) has been kept off the mound the past five games with an irritated muscle in his shoulder.

But this one hurts. Tyler Blondi, who has stolen 16 bases in 18 attempts, will have surgery to repair ligaments in his non-throwing shoulder. Bolyog said Blondi probably will be lost for the season.

Last season, 13 Oak Park players spent time on the sideline with injuries.

MISSION LEAGUE

All Together Now

The St. Francis baseball team recorded a significant victory over the weekend. The Knights (6-4) upset Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland, the state’s sixth-ranked team, 9-2, in the Glendale tournament. “It’s the first time all year we’ve pitched, hit and played defense well,” St. Francis Coach Tim O’Neil said.

Three St. Francis pitchers (senior Sean Martin, sophomore Paul Diaz and junior Mike Henderson) gave up a total of 12 hits. Diaz leads the team with a 1.20 ERA. In 19 2/3 innings, he has 18 strikeouts.

Around the Leagues . . .

* Thousand Oaks right-hander Tim Baron has completed all five of the games in which he has appeared. Baron is 4-1 with an 0.97 earned-run average.

* Camarillo outfielder Robert Smith will probably miss the rest of the season with torn cartilage in his left ankle, Coach Jack Willard said. In the first seven games of the season, Smith was hitting .318 with nine RBIs and nine stolen bases.

* Crescenta Valley catcher John French suffered a hairline fracture of his left wrist during a collision at home plate against Pasadena last week and might be lost for the season. Kirk Hagge, the Falcons’ regular shortstop, will start behind the plate and left fielder Jesse Mitchell will move to shortstop.

Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Jeff Fletcher, Dana Haddad, Irene Garcia and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.