Camarillo Pitcher in Fun House

Pitcher Cindy Ball said she relishes games that are close and filled with tension.

The junior from Camarillo High must be having a fun year.

Ball threw a two-hit shutout Thursday, beating Thousand Oaks, 1-0, in a Marmonte League game that lasted eight innings.

The league’s most-dominant pitcher, Ball (5-0) struck out 12, walked none, struck out the side twice and worked her way out of trouble in the first, fifth, seventh and eighth innings.

She had nothing to show for it until pinch-runner Mandi Comer scored from third base on Brooke Rutschman’s bunt with two out in the bottom of the eighth. But that’s how Ball likes it.

“I love pressure,” she said. “Our whole team likes a challenge.”

Despite leading the league with four home runs and 12 runs batted in, Comer wasn’t in the lineup because of her .227 batting average. She entered the game in the eighth after Allison Taverner drew a one-out walk.

Robin Degner followed with a sacrifice bunt and Comer, noticing the Lancers had left third base uncovered, raced all the way to third.

The game ended one pitch later, when Thousand Oaks third baseman Angela Liufo failed to throw out Comer at home on Rutschman’s bunt.

The Scorpions (10-1), ranked second in the region by The Times, are 6-1-1 in league play. No. 4 Thousand Oaks is 10-4, 3-3.

“I wish we were still playing, because I hate to lose and I hate to lose to Camarillo,” Thousand Oaks pitcher Jennifer Sharron said. “I’m very, very disappointed.”

Sharron (9-4) also threw a two-hitter, striking out six and walking two.

The Lancers had chances. Erika Hanson led off the game with a single and a stolen base, but was stranded at third. In the fifth, Liufo reached first on an error by Ball and advanced to third but no farther.

Kristin Combe reached on an error to open the seventh, but was doubled off when first baseman Jessica Ziese caught Shelly Teverbaugh’s sacrifice-bunt attempt in the air.

No Camarillo runner got as far as third base until Comer’s eighth-inning dash, and Sharron had retired the side in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

“I think we could have executed better in some plays,” Sharron said. “But it’s games like this that you learn from. Defensively, we played an awesome game.”

If somebody had covered third, they might still be playing.

“It’s exciting,” Comer said. “But I just ran. [My teammates] did everything else.”