Bustos’ Bat Breaks Up West Pitching Staff, 4-0 : Softball: She drives in two runs and scores two, leading East all-stars to 4-0 victory.

If there were any hazy opinions before about her ability, they should be Crystl clear by now.

That’s Crystl Bustos, the best high school softball player in the area.

The senior shortstop from Canyon High turned Wednesday’s San Fernando Valley softball all-star game at Cal State Northridge into a solo act with a home run, two triples and a single in the East’s 4-0 victory over the West.

Pitchers Lindsay Parker of La Canada and Sophie Contreraz of Alemany each allowed two hits as the East defeated the West for the fourth consecutive year by shutout and improved its record to 7-2 in the series.

But Bustos stole the show with an awe-inspiring show of hitting, baserunning and defense. She was four for four, drove in two runs and scored the other two.

“It was a fun day,” said Bustos, who missed most of Canyon’s season because she was academically ineligible and will play at Palm Beach Community College in Lake Worth, Fla., next year. “I had fun playing with different people and stuff.”

West pitchers Jessie Davenport, Mindy Penrod and Melissa Krolik experienced a helpless feeling well known to those who compete in the Foothill League.

Davenport, of Thousand Oaks, was the first victim.

With one out in the top of the first inning and Hart’s Tracy Clark at third base courtesy of two errors, Bustos slapped a Davenport changeup down the third-base line and raced for a triple. She scored moments later on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

“Seriously, she’s amazing,” Davenport said. “It doesn’t matter where the ball’s pitched, she just ropes it.”

Bustos made it 3-0 in the fourth when she stroked a dropball by Penrod, of Moorpark, over the fence in right-center field. An inning later, Bustos drove home Clark with the final run.

With Penrod trying to pitch around her, Bustos swung at a pitch chin high and outside, pounded it into the alley in right-center and slid into third in a cloud of dust.

“I said to her before the game, ‘I know you’re going to get a hit off me,’ ” said Penrod, who plays on a travel team with Bustos.

“And she got two. I just couldn’t believe she hit the homer. I was shocked.”

In fact, Penrod, laughing and shaking her head, slapped Bustos on the chest with her glove as the game’s star crossed the plate on the homer.

Said Bustos, “She said something like, ‘You had to hit it off me.’ I was too busy smiling.”

Krolik, of Calabasas, was the least scathed. She faced Bustos once and allowed a hard grounder to the hole on the left side of the infield for the single that opened the eighth.

Bustos stole second base, but Krolik got Kelli Kranz and Jeanine Giordano of Saugus on a fly to left and a groundout. Alemany’s Jamie Moore flied out to end the inning.

“I was pretty nervous pitching to her,” Krolik said. “I was worried that she would knock the ball out of the park. I’m glad she only got a single off me.”

The game drew an estimated crowd of 300, and Bustos said she never played in front of so many people.

“In the beginning I was kind of nervous,” she said. “I didn’t want to strike out with so many people watching. But I liked the crowd, with all the little kids. They got to see me play. It feels good.”

The West left nine runners on base, including three in the third against Parker, who struck out four and walked one in five innings.

Davenport struck out six while allowing two walks and two hits in four innings.