Ventura Has Proved to Be Nearly Pitcher Perfect in League Play

Operation overkill began Saturday morning when Ventura High baseball Coach Dan Smith convened a special practice.

The only players required to attend were pitchers and catchers. Is Smith missing something here? If this group needs work, Channel League batters better find another hobby.

But Smith must know what he’s doing. Practice has made nearly perfect.

After three league games, opponents are still looking to score off the Cougars. That’s 21 consecutive scoreless innings, and Ventura (6-1, 3-0) has allowed only nine runs all season and two earned runs in 50 innings for a team earned-run average of 0.28.

Smith, in his 16th year at Ventura, has never had it so easy. All he does is call for fastballs, and senior right-handers Jeremy Pierce and Robert Verstraeten deliver.

“I just turn ‘em loose,” said Smith, who downplayed the significance of Saturday’s practice. “We just have the pitchers work on technique and get in their running.”

Whatever. The Cougars are off to their best start since 1987 when Ventura advanced to the Southern Section 3-A Division semifinals.

Verstraeten (5 feet 10, 190 pounds) highlighted the staff’s overwhelming start by pitching a no-hitter Friday, striking out 12 and walking two in a 3-0 victory over San Marcos. He faced only 23 batters and lowered his ERA to 0.30. In 23 innings, he has 32 strikeouts.

In his first league start, a 1-0 victory over Buena on March 17, Verstraeten (2-1) pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks.

Between those shutouts, Pierce (6-1, 190) pitched a five-hitter in a 1-0 victory over Hueneme. Pierce (3-0) struck out two, didn’t walk anyone, faced only 25 batters and lowered his ERA to 0.37.

The best news for Smith? The pitcher he expected to lead the staff has not played this season. Right-hander Seth Casey, who was 3-2 with a 2.07 ERA as a junior in ‘94, is academically ineligible but is expected to return in three weeks.

“I’ve never been in a situation like this before,” Smith said. “I feel comfortable no matter who is out there pitching.”

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An interesting early season matchup in the Channel League comes Tuesday when Rio Mesa (5-3, 2-1), the defending league champion, plays at Ventura.

Fans are advised to arrive early. With Pierce and Verstraeten throwing, Ventura’s first three league games have each ended in less than two hours.

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Justin Bordwell of Ventura is still accepting pats on the back around school after he made his varsity debut on the golf team last week. The 14-year-old freshman was thrust into the lineup Monday to replace an ill teammate and soon got everyone’s attention at the Montecito Country Club in Santa Barbara.

Playing on a soggy course during a steady drizzle against Santa Barbara and Rio Mesa, Bordwell made a hole in one on the par-three eighth hole. He used a pitching wedge on the 100-yard hole that plays uphill to a blind pin.

When he reached the green and couldn’t find his ball, Bordwell scraped around in the bushes ringing the green. After a few minutes, he took the advice of a playing partner and checked the hole. He peeked a sheepish glance and sure enough, the first ace of his young career.

Word traveled around the course quickly and the congratulations soon followed.

“I thought it was great but I wasn’t that excited,” Bordwell said.

Seems he was under the weather himself, fighting flu and a bad headache.

Just imagine what he’ll do when he feels OK.

Bordwell learned the game from his father Steve, who operates the restaurant at the Olivas Park golf course in Ventura.

“He’s been golfing since he was five,” Steve Bordwell said. “I think the first time he ever stood up he had a golf club in his hand. He used it as a cane.”

Justin has been a quick learner. He said he regularly shoots in the 80s and now leads his father in aces, 1-0.

But Justin has bigger concerns. He hopes he keeps playing with the varsity.

At Montecito, he was second on the team with an 87, although Ventura shot a 446 and lost to both Santa Barbara (419) and Rio Mesa (422). The next day, still on the varsity, Bordwell shot an 85, again second-best on the team. Ventura (4-3, 3-3) defeated Hueneme, 430-434, at the Port Hueneme golf course.

“I’m happy to be on the varsity,” he said. “At least I’ll be there for a little while.”

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Talk about the transition game. Everyone expected Kristi Fox of Newbury Park to make an immediate impact on the softball field after the conclusion of the basketball season. But Nicole Greathouse of Buena has nearly matched Fox’s achievements.

Fox was The Times’ county player of the year as a sophomore in ’94 and was a reserve on the Panther basketball team that advanced last weekend to the State championship game. No sooner did she pick up her softball glove then she began overpowering hitters.

In her debut Wednesday, she pitched a no-hitter, beating Thousand Oaks, 2-0. On Friday, she dominated Simi Valley, pitching a one-hitter and getting three hits in a 9-0 victory. In her first 14 innings, Fox struck out 14 and walked two.

Greathouse, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, was an all-county basketball player this season and was a second-team all-county softball selection last season by The Times.

Five days after the Bulldogs lost to Clovis West in the state regional basketball playoffs two weeks ago, Greathouse pitched two scoreless innings to earn a save in a 3-2 victory over La Reina.

After pitching two scoreless innings in relief against Rio Mesa and dropping a 1-0 decision to Apple Valley, Greathouse pitched a no-hitter Friday, striking out seven and walking two in a 3-0 victory over Dos Pueblos.

For Greathouse, jumping into softball after a long, grueling basketball season is surprisingly easy.

“There are physical and mental adjustments because they are such different sports, but change is good,” she said. “It’s like a fresh start.”