Cagey Musketeers Hit Old-Fashioned Way--On the Field

It is widely known that Simi Valley High Coach Mike Scyphers operates a batting cage in Camarillo and lets his players use it as often as they want. So after Moorpark stunned the Pioneers, then ranked No. 1 by The Times, 9-5, in the Camarillo tournament championship game Saturday, Moorpark hitting star Jason Adamson was asked whether his team had used Scyphers’ cage.

“We have not been there in our lives,” said Adamson, who paced a 10-hit attack by going two for three with a triple and two runs batted in. “We just go to our own field to take (batting practice) and soft toss.”

There is nothing soft about the hitting of Moorpark, which carries a .336 team batting average.

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Another star for Moorpark (13-3) was pitcher Andy Huisenga, who took on Simi Valley (13-3) with no previous starts, 10 innings of work and a 5.13 earned-run average. Huisenga (1-0) turned in a complete game, scattering eight hits.

Coach David Rhoades had gotten by with two starters all season but was forced to use Huisenga after Brian Garrettson and Mike Vasquez pitched complete games the previous two days.

“I was worried,” Rhoades said. “You don’t know what to expect. But he just battled, battled, battled.”

Huisenga, a junior right-hander, was named most valuable player of the tournament for his pitching and hitting: seven for 10, a double and five RBIs.

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Since Calabasas power hitter Josh Morton was moved to the leadoff spot, he is 10 for 18 with six walks and five RBIs. Morton, who is batting .488, hit leadoff home runs last week against Santa Barbara and San Marcos.

“He was batting third and he’s got such a reputation that (pitchers) don’t throw him anything,” said Morton’s father, Keith.

Morton drove in five runs last week. Billy Hoover, who was moved to third in the order, was seven for 14 with eight RBIs. Six of his hits went for extra bases.

CHANNEL LEAGUE

Two Out, Two In

Buena probably has lost its top two starting pitchers. Senior left-hander Mark Stehle suffered a herniated disk and junior right-hander Danny Rodriguez has tendinitis in his elbow. Rodriguez might return later this season.

The Bulldogs will use juniors J.C. Holt and Clint Pine, both recently promoted from the junior varsity.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Tubb Time

Perhaps the most important player for first-place Newbury Park in this three-league-game week is junior right-hander Dustin Tubb, who has spent most of the season on the junior varsity.

Tubb pitched six strong innings in the Panthers’ 8-3 victory against Agoura on Monday, allowing Newbury Park to save Keith Smith and Ray Clinton for games against Royal and Channel Islands.

Tubb (2-0), who gave up three runs and struck out five against Agoura, shut out Birmingham, 3-0, on March 28 in his only other varsity start.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

The Return of Glick

Overpowering Palmdale pitcher David Glick returned last week after missing three weeks because of a twisted ankle.

“We’re glad he’s back,” Coach Kent Bothwell said.

Glick, a 6-2, 185-pound senior left-hander, struck out 19 in 10 innings last week, including 13 in a two-hitter against Ridgecrest Burroughs.

That victory boosted Glick’s record to 4-0 and further enhanced his eye-grabbing statistics. In 35 innings, he has struck out 52 and walked six. His ERA is 1.20.

Bothwell said that Glick’s fastball has been consistently timed in the mid-80 m.p.h. range, and Glick also possesses a good curveball and changeup.

“He’s been scouted a lot,” Bothwell said. “There’s a pack of them following him around, wondering when he’s going to pitch.”

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Highland, which played two recent league games without eight of its starters, is back at full strength.

Coach Mike Van Cheri suspended 11 team members in early April for rules violations during a trip to the Las Vegas tournament.

Highland lost to Antelope Valley, 18-4, in the first game the depleted team played. But Van Cheri reinstated all the suspended players for last Friday’s game against Quartz Hill, a 12-7 loss.

“We’ve just been trying to weather the storm,” Van Cheri said. “At least the storm is over.”

NORTHWEST VALLEY

Underdog Day

Last Friday, the underdogs jumped up and bit their handlers.

San Fernando entered its game against defending City Section 4-A champion El Camino Real sporting an underwhelming 2-12 record.

Reseda entered its contest against Granada Hills--ranked third in area by The Times--having won only two conference games since 1991.

So what happened?

San Fernando 4, El Camino Real 2.

Reseda 5, Granada Hills 4.

Javier Barrigan starred for San Fernando, pitching a five-hitter, and teammate Carlos Jimenez had a two-run double.

For Reseda, Carlos Nunez went four for four and drove in all five runs. Sophomore catcher Brian Menkin took the mound in the sixth and retired the final five batters.

Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Jeff Fletcher and Dana Haddad contributed to this notebook.

Baseball Top 10

Rankings of Valley-area high schools by sportswriters of The Times:

Rk LW Team League W-L 1 2 Sylmar East Valley 16-3 2 6 Chatsworth West Valley 16-3 3 5 Crescenta Valley Pacific 11-3 4 1 Simi Valley Marmonte 13-3 5 9 Poly East Valley 14-2 6 7 Newbury Park Marmonte 13-4 7 8 Notre Dame Mission 11-4 8 3 Granada Hills North Valley 8-4 9 NR Moorpark Frontier 14-3 10 NR Hart Foothill 13-4