Winning Against Big Boys, Moorpark Thinks Bigger

Moorpark High, playing the part of giant-killer in the Camarillo baseball tournament, didn’t want to miss an opportunity to play the biggest giant of all in today’s championship game.

So, with 1993 Southern Section Division I runner-up Simi Valley lying in wait, the upstart Musketeers--hailing from the small-school Frontier League in a tournament filled with big-school Marmonte League teams--sent stopper Mike Vasquez to the mound against Camarillo on Friday.

But stop he didn’t.

The senior left-hander struck out three in the top of the first inning, but he also gave up three runs and five hits, including a two-run double.

Other pitchers might have been shellshocked. Not Vasquez. After the third out, he looked at his teammates and said, “Go hit.” And the Musketeers scored five runs in the bottom of the inning en route to a 7-5 victory.

Moorpark (12-3), having beaten two Marmonte teams in as many days, will play Simi Valley today at 3 p.m.--thanks, in part to Vasquez (6-2).

“This is the best start for us--as far as the competition we’ve played--in my five years,” said Moorpark Coach David Rhoades, whose team defeated Westlake, 16-2, Thursday. “Now we get to play Simi Valley. What an honor for us.”

Vasquez, who entered the game with a 2.47 earned-run average, wasn’t his sharpest, but he went the distance, striking out six and scattering 10 hits while throwing 105 pitches.

“I got a lot of confidence in my guys,” Vasquez said. “We all hang around each other. We’ve been playing together since T-ball. We’re like a family.”

Vasquez credited his errorless defense, but the key to this victory was the first inning. After the Scorpions (6-8) sent eight men to the plate in the top half, the Musketeers sent up 10 in the bottom.

Moorpark’s first-inning runs came with two out against Nathan Kaup (1-1). Jason Adamson hit a run-scoring pop-fly double to right off the glove of Erik Jue, who had ripped a two-run double for Camarillo. The inning was kept alive when third baseman Nick Moody gloved a chopper by Bill Finnerty that seemed bound for foul territory but ended up as an infield hit.

Then a trio of left-handed batters stroked opposite-field hits--Craig Weaver with an RBI single, Ryan Huisenga with a two-run double and Ben Hall with an RBI single.

“I was impressed with them,” Camarillo Coach Jack Willard said. “They swing the bat from one to nine, and the left-hander hung in there.”

Vasquez allowed single runs in the second and fourth but retired nine of the last 10 batters. “I couldn’t get my inside fastball for strikes for a while,” said Vasquez, who was 5-5 in 1993 and 8-3 in 1992. “So I started varying the fastball. I threw some two seams and some four seams, and then I got better.”