Camarillo Has Eye on Marmonte Title : Softball: Freshman Ball outlasts Newbury Park’s Fox in 11-inning pitching showdown, 1-0.

Newbury Park High softball Coach Mike Morgan summarized his team’s 1-0, 11-inning Marmonte League loss to Camarillo on Thursday:

“When you’ve got two good teams and two good pitchers,” he said, “the game is going to come down to who blinks first. And we blinked.”

In that blink of an eye, the Panthers (15-5, 7-3 in league play) fell from a potential first-place tie into third. And they were taken down by a batch of players they’ll see for a few more years.

Freshman catcher Jessica Mendoza led off the bottom of the 11th with a bunt single. Camarillo, with the help of a Newbury Park wild pitch and the Panthers’ failure to record an out on a sacrifice, loaded the bases with nobody out.

Sophomore Brooke Rutschman, making her first start of the season, then hit a chopper to third that drove in the game’s only run, securing the victory for freshman pitcher Cindy Ball.

The Scorpions (17-2-1, 9-1) remain alone atop the league, with Westlake a game behind and Newbury Park two games back.

Camarillo established itself as a title contender when the Scorpions beat Newbury Park, 1-0, in the teams’ first meeting. In that game, the Panthers were surprised to see Ball pitching, and more surprised when the game ended and they didn’t have any hits.

Ball (5-1) scattered four hits Thursday. She struck out seven and did not walk a batter. The Scorpions made only one error behind her.

Newbury Park’s Kristi Fox was equally effective, though. Fox (12-4) gave up three hits. She struck out eight and walked only one. No Camarillo baserunner reached second until the 11th.