HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL : Pioneers Thrown for Loss : Marmonte League: Outfielder’s game-saving defensive play against Simi Valley earns Camarillo a first-place tie.

Although he hit a home run, drove in five runs and pitched a complete game, Nathan Kaup of Camarillo High must share credit for the Scorpions’ 5-4 victory over Simi Valley with a player who didn’t so much as muster a hit.

Joe Borchard’s contribution to Friday’s key Marmonte League victory was a perfect throw from right field that nailed Brian Kavanagh at the plate to end the top of the sixth inning, preserving a one-run lead. Borchard’s teammates then mobbed him as if they had won the World Series.

“It’s a great feeling,” Borchard said. “We haven’t been feeling this good for a long time.”

The victory moved Camarillo (14-5, 6-2 in league play) into a first-place tie with Simi Valley (14-6, 6-2) and Westlake. The Scorpions have won five league games in a row after losses to Simi Valley and Westlake in their first three Marmonte League games.

“I’ve been trying all year to get these guys to find a game that will turn the tide,” said Scott Cline, Camarillo’s first-year coach. “This game turned the tide for Camarillo High baseball. We haven’t beaten Simi Valley in so long, at home, on the road, anywhere.”

The Scorpions also have not been to the playoffs since 1985, when Cline was a senior shortstop.

If they make it this year, they might point to Borchard’s throw as the play that pushed them over the hump.

Simi Valley trailed by a run in the sixth, when the Pioneers put Kavanagh at third and pinch-runner Robert Gonzalez at first with one out and leadoff batter Tim Nykoluk at the plate. Nykoluk lofted a fly ball toward the right-field line.

Borchard, a sophomore who was the football team’s starting quarterback last fall, glided under the ball, planted and made a no-hop throw to catcher Mike Muller, who slapped a tag on Kavanagh 10 feet from the plate.

“I knew it was a good throw when I let it go,” Borchard said, “but I wasn’t sure I’d get him.”

Kaup was: “I knew he was out all the way.”

Cline said he has come to expect such plays from Borchard.

“Day in and day out, Joe Borchard has the best arm in this league, no doubt about it,” Cline said. “I was very surprised they went in that situation. I was hoping they’d go, and they did.”

Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers said the situation dictated that he take a chance on the tying run, even though Kavanagh is not known for his speed.

“I’m not second-guessing that at all,” he said. “If they execute they win. If they don’t, we’re still playing. It was a great throw.”

Scyphers had plenty of other things to be upset about. With one out in the seventh inning, Casey Vermette missed a hit-and-run sign and Dan Schwartz, who led off the inning with an infield single, was thrown out attempting to steal second.

The Pioneers, who rely on throwing strikes and playing solid defense, also walked four batters, hit one and made three errors. Of the five Scorpions who scored, only one reached base on a hit. The others reached on an error, two walks and a hit batsman.

Scyphers also questioned his own decision to start Vermette on the mound, despite the pitcher’s sore back.

“He told me he wanted the ball,” Scyphers said.

Vermette (3-4) was pulled two outs into the first inning, with the bases loaded and two runs already in on Kaup’s bloop single.

Kaup’s next at-bat resulted in more than a bloop. Bill Castonguay, a left-hander who took over for Vermette and pitched the rest of the game, grooved a fastball to Kaup with two runners on in the third inning. Kaup ripped it on a line over the left-center field fence.

“I knew I had it all the way,” Kaup said of his second home run of the season.

Kaup (6-0) scattered nine hits and gave up three earned runs. He walked one and struck out five, including Vermette to end the game.