For Pattle, Baseball Just Isn’t Cricket

When three classmates from tiny Coutin High in Canoga Park persuaded Duncan Pattle to try out for the Coutin baseball team last year, Pattle was interested but hesitant. He had never played baseball.

He had caught a ball before, but not with a glove. He had hit a ball before, but only when it was rolled on the ground toward him.

Pattle was more familiar with cricket, a game he played often in his native Australia. Cricket includes bats, pitches and runs, but has little else in common with America’s pastime.

After a few dropped balls, awkward strikeouts and a year of schooling, the junior is now starting in center field for the Knights.

Learning to catch was the easy part. Pattle said he’s dropped only one “easy” fly ball.

Hitting was another story.

“It felt awkward to me,” Pattle said. “I was used to hitting balls rolled on the ground to me. Adjusting the stance was the biggest thing.”

After struggling most of last year, Pattle realized some of his potential when he hit his first homer in his last game. This season, the struggle continues, as Pattle’s batting average hovers at about .215.

Each summer Pattle returns to Australia. He’s noticed that more Australians are getting into baseball, and attributes it to cable television.

“When I left we had only four stations,” Pattle said. “Now there’s 10 and more coming. There’s a (baseball) game on almost every week. Everybody’s wearing hats and knows what the game’s about, but I’m learning firsthand.”

NORTHWEST VALLEY

Trying to Catch Up

El Camino Real, which defeated West Valley League rival Chatsworth in the City 4-A baseball final last year, has played well this season, winning 14 of its 18 games.

But the Conquistadores (6-3 in the conference) are three games behind Chatsworth.

“They’re making a run for themselves and putting everybody behind them,” Coach Mike Maio said of Chatsworth. “If you get on a run and win those close ones, it puts you up.”

El Camino Real also trails Taft, another West Valley League school, which has played surprisingly well and has gone 7-2 in the conference.

“Everybody’s tough,” Maio said. “It’s a very equal league.”

Just how equal will be proved over the next month, when El Camino Real, Chatsworth and Taft all play one another three times. The top two league finishers will earn automatic playoff berths.

“This is how it should be,” Chatsworth Coach Tom Meusborn said. “A battle.”

*

Bryan Weinstein and Jimmy Landress have sparked the offense of Granada Hills, which has played extremely well this season, beating El Camino Real twice and taking Chatsworth to extra innings in two losses.

The two have almost identical batting averages but different styles. Weinstein (.450, 18 for 40) bats leadoff and has nine stolen bases. Landress (.461, 18 for 39) has six doubles and 13 RBIs.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Love That Thin Air

High altitude. A tough place to boil liquids. An easy place for pitchers to get into hot water.

Two area teams--Palmdale and Quartz Hill--have three players who are hitting .400 or above, and 10 players on the league’s five area teams are hitting above .400.

Palmdale’s three players are Chris Paxton (.457), Jerome Payton (.436) and Bob Harmon (.420). Quartz Hill has Kyle Goss (.557), Aaron Brown (.471) and Jonathon Smith (.400).

The other area players are: John Hanggee (.465) of Littlerock, Casey Cheshier (.457) of Highland and Marcus Armstrong (.442) and Chris Tapia (.439) of Antelope Valley.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Baserunners Beware

Opposing players fortunate enough to reach base against the Royal softball team should be aware that they resemble sitting ducks in the mind of junior catcher Susan Torst.

In 17 games, Torst has thrown out 15 runners attempting to steal. Even more impressive, Torst has picked off eight runners from first, second and third.

“She’s got a good arm,” Coach Andy Silva said. “She’s always looking to improve herself.”

Meanwhile, the Highlanders expect to play without senior slugger Tricia Polhert for the rest of the regular season.

Polhert, who has committed to Drake, suffered a broken ankle while trying to beat out a grounder April 5 against Newbury Park.

Polhert, who was batting a team-high .429 before the injury, is expected to be in an ankle cast another two weeks, but the Highlanders are hoping to get her back for the playoffs should Royal qualify.

“We have our fingers crossed,” Silva said.

*

Camarillo is the hottest baseball team in the league. The Scorpions have won four consecutive league games after an 0-4 start. The biggest was Wednesday’s 9-2 victory over first-place Newbury Park.

Erik Jue was three for four with five runs batted in, including a grand slam. Ryan Bourget pitched a six-hitter in his first outing since arm problems sidelined him for three weeks.

And sophomores Nathan Kaup and Rodell Desamparo, who have sparked the turnaround, continued their hot hitting with two hits each. “We’re playing as well as we’ve played all year,” Coach Jack Willard said. “Hopefully, we can just keep it going.”

With six games remaining, the Scorpions are a half-game behind Royal and Channel Islands for the third and final playoff spot in the league.

*

Five notable things that happened during Royal’s 13-5 victory over Simi Valley on Wednesday:

* Royal pitcher Maki Kramer pitched the minimum four innings required to pick up the victory, his eighth in as many decisions. He didn’t go farther because he was ejected for running over Simi Valley catcher Brian Kavanagh.

* Simi Valley walked 12 batters.

* Royal center fielder Kevin Mellinger made a diving catch with his back to the infield.

* Royal’s Joel Mellinger, Kevin’s brother, was three for three, including his seventh triple of the season, and he had six RBIs.

* There was a 25-minute rain delay, after which the Highlanders exploded for 11 runs in three innings, overcoming a 4-2 deficit.

“It was one of those games,” Royal Coach Dan Maye said. “Just about everything you could think of happened.”

*

A preseason article from a local publication predicted the Thousand Oaks boys’ swimming team would be the fourth-best in Ventura County even though the Lancers had won 11 consecutive league titles.

It was a perfect motivational tool for Lancer Coach Bill Gemberling, who promptly posted the article on the team’s bulletin board.

The Lancers dispatched two challengers last week with almost-identical scores. Thousand Oaks defeated Westlake, 114-73, then beat Royal, 114-72, to break a first-place tie and remain undefeated in dual meets.

“Everybody came through real well and was ready,” Gemberling said. “We’ve been looking at these meets all year.”

The only threat remaining to catch the Lancers appeared to be Agoura, but Thousand Oaks thrashed the Chargers, 130-28, on Wednesday.

CAMINO REAL LEAGUE

Wet and Wild

Bell-Jeff Coach Craig Sherwood called the Guards’ 8-8 tie with St. Monica on Wednesday the weirdest game he’s seen in 13 years of high school coaching.

The Guards trailed St. Monica, 8-1, with two out in the fifth when rain started to fall. One more out and it’s an official game . . . but hold on.

Bell-Jeff hit three consecutive singles to load the bases. Jason Plourde struck out, but the ball got away from the catcher. Plourde was safe at first and a run scored.

That was followed by a walk, a single, a walk, a walk and a two-run single by Dave Matekel that tied the score. Matekel was picked off first, ending the inning and the game. At that point, it was raining so hard the umpires called it a tie.

“There’s nothing that can match this,” Sherwood said. “The old fat lady must have been getting wet in the rain and took off without getting a chance to sing.”

Around the Leagues . . .

* The Ventura boys’ track team won its third consecutive Channel League title with a victory over Dos Pueblos and Hueneme in a triangular meet last week. The Cougars have posted a 21-0 record in league competition over the past three years.

* Channel Islands right-hander Rene Sanchez (4-2) has back-to-back complete-game wins over Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. He threw a four-hit shutout Wednesday against Thousand Oaks, striking out seven. Sanchez also has been hitting. He came into the Thousand Oaks game on a 5-for-10 streak.

* Agoura right-hander Cary Gallardo beat Westlake, 8-4, Wednesday. It was not only the Chargers’ first league victory, but Gallardo’s first since he threw a no-hitter against Van Nuys on March 17.

* It’s obvious which league currently dominates the Northwest Valley Conference. West Valley League teams (Chatsworth, Taft, El Camino Real and Reseda) won 22 of 32 games against North Valley League teams (Granada Hills, Kennedy, Cleveland and San Fernando) this season.

* Poly has won 11 consecutive games, and 15 of 16.

* Doug Linde, one of Harvard-Westlake’s top pitchers, will return this week after sitting out two weeks because of a sore ankle injured when he was hit by a pitch. The Wolverines need him back: They’ve lost four Mission League games in a row.

* Pasadena has proved to be a great punching bag for Hoover’s baseball team. In two league games against the Bulldogs, junior Ed Perez has three home runs and senior Ron Pirayoff has five doubles.

* Hoover Coach Bob Cooper has rejoined the team after missing a chunk of the season because of a back injury, and junior pitcher Gerald DeLaPena is fully recovered from a sore elbow.

Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Jeff Fletcher, Michael Lazarus, Paige A. Leech and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.