Blum Gets Call-Up, Downs Simi Valley

With ace Kristi Fox nursing a thigh injury, the Newbury Park High softball team relied on the arm of an unknown freshman pitcher and near-perfect defense to get past Simi Valley, 3-1, in a Marmonte League game Tuesday at Borchard Park.

Freshman right-hander Alyson Blum was brought up from the junior varsity to fill in for Fox, who pulled a muscle in her right leg while running to first base during last week’s 21-inning game with Thousand Oaks.

Because varsity backup pitcher Stacie Beshore left the team for personal reasons last week, Newbury Park Coach Mike Morgan was forced to do some shuffling.

Blum, 15, who was 6-1 on the junior varsity, turned out to be his ace in the hole.

The 5-foot-5 Blum scattered seven hits and struck out four.

“To be perfectly honest with you, for a freshman pitcher with a day’s notice, I thought she did a good job,” Morgan said. “She showed a lot of poise. We’re very happy with her effort.”

What helped Newbury Park’s cause more, perhaps, was Simi Valley’s inability to make routine plays.

The Pioneers (4-3, 2-1 in league play) committed five errors and wasted an impressive pitching performance by sophomore right-hander Lori Tande (2-2). Tande allowed five hits, struck out four and did not allow an earned run.

“She pitched well enough to win the game,” Simi Valley Coach Suzanne Manlet said. “It was just real uncharacteristic of us to boot the ball that many times.”

On three hits and three errors, the Panthers (9-0, 4-0), ranked No. 2 in the region by The Times, scored a run in the second and two in the third for a 3-0 lead.

Simi Valley responded in the fourth on Cara DeStefano’s run-scoring double. With two out and runners at second and third, Blum escaped further damage by getting Tande to ground out.

Dawn Carifi and Teresa DeLaTorre each had two hits for Simi Valley.

Fox, The Times’ 1994 Ventura County player of the year, will have a few extra days to rest her injury. Newbury Park’s game Thursday against Camarillo, the No. 1 team in the region, has been postponed because funeral services will be held that day for Michael Halsell, the Newbury Park student who died Monday, two weeks after he was electrocuted and critically burned over 85% of his body while climbing a 175-foot electrical tower in Thousand Oaks.