Camarillo Takes Care of Some Unfinished Business Again, 5-0

Revenge, they say, is twice as nice.

Camarillo High followed form with a 5-0 victory over Simi Valley in a Marmonte League softball game Thursday at Rancho Santa Susana Park.

It was the second time this week the Scorpions (17-1-1, 10-1-1 in league play), top-ranked by The Times in the region, avenged a blemish on their record.

On Tuesday, Camarillo defeated Newbury Park, 5-3, after the teams played a scoreless tie in 13 innings earlier this season.

Against the Pioneers, who defeated Camarillo, 1-0, on April 3, it was personal.

Melanie Richardson, who was on the losing end against Simi Valley, pitched a two-hitter and struck out six.

“I knew they were a good team and I was really nervous before the game,” Richardson said. “But once we got the lead I settled down.”

While Richardson was able to get a handle on her butterflies, Simi Valley sophomore Lori Tande never got over her nerves.

Tande, who pitched a two-hitter against Camarillo the first time around, gave up her second hit by the second inning Thursday. The Scorpions finished with 12, three each by Brooke Rutschman, Robin Degner and Jefflyn Spahr.

But it wasn’t just nerves or the Camarillo lineup that kept Tande rattled. A couple of borderline calls by the base umpire contributed to her shaky start.

“I know the umpires can’t ruin a game for you but those guys were really bad, I think they brought the whole team down,” Tande said. “If [an umpire] has a bad strike zone that’s one thing, but these guys didn’t know the difference between out and safe.”

But it was the Scorpions and not the umpires who jumped on Tande for four runs in the third, highlighted by Jessica Ziese’s suicide squeeze that scored Rutschman, and Degner’s run-scoring single.

Camarillo scored its final run in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Spahr.

Richardson didn’t allow a runner past second base until Tande tripled in the sixth, but Tande was thrown out trying for a home run.

The Pioneers (13-11, 7-5) fell into a third-place tie with Thousand Oaks. A third-place finish in the Marmonte League usually translates into a Southern Section playoff berth.

Camarillo is tied for the Marmonte lead with Newbury Park, but the Scorpions hold the tie-breaker because of their victory on Tuesday.

“We’re not really concerned what happens in league,” Camarillo Coach Nichole Victoria said. “The playoffs are what matter.”