Whole Lot of Nothing Going On

The top two area high school softball teams faced off for the first time this season. And because it was a Marmonte League matchup, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the game went extra innings.

If the Camarillo field had lights, the Scorpions, top-ranked in the region by The Times, and No. 2 Newbury Park might still be playing. But on Friday, the sun went down and the game was called, going into the books as a 13-inning, 0-0 tie, nearly three hours after the first pitch.

Extra-inning games are nothing new in the league. One-third of the 18 games played so far have gone longer than seven innings. Camarillo and Newbury Park each went extra innings with Thousand Oaks last week.

Camarillo (7-0-1, 3-0-1) beat Thousand Oaks in 11 innings just before the sun went down, and Newbury Park (9-0-1, 4-0-1) defeated the Lancers in 21 under the lights at Borchard Park.

“We were expecting a 1-0 ballgame,” Newbury Park Coach Mike Morgan said. “But I guess you can’t have a field with lights every time.”

Pitchers Cindy Ball of Camarillo and Kristi Fox of Newbury Park, whose records are unchanged at 3-0 and 6-0, dominated while their teammates played error-free defense behind them.

Ball, a sophomore, pitched a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts and two walks. Fox, a senior, allowed four hits, struck out eight and walked five.

After surrendering a first-inning walk, Ball retired 16 batters in a row before allowing a single to Tawni Yamauchi to lead off the seventh. A sacrifice bunt and a groundout moved Yamauchi to third, but Ball struck out Candace Roberts on four pitchers to end Newbury Park’s only threat.

Camarillo’s biggest threats came in the first two innings. Jessica Mendoza walked to lead off the first and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. But Sarah DeWoody grounded out to shortstop Amy Berman.

In the second, Jessica Ziese led off with a single and Ball followed with a walk. Fox struck out the next two batters--both on failed bunt attempts--but surrendered a single up the middle to Brooke Rutschman. Roberts was playing shallow in center field and held pinch-runner Amanda Buttell at third.

With the bases loaded, Mendoza grounded out to first baseman Tina Roscoe.

“I thought we would keep it going like that, but you’ve got to execute,” Camarillo Coach Nichole Victoria said.