Camarillo Delivers Royal Beating

Maybe the Camarillo High baseball team should hold players-only meetings more often.

Seniors Joe Borchard, Andy Kroneberger and Jeff Bannon got the team together Tuesday to discuss recent hitting woes.

So what happened when Camarillo played host to Royal in a Marmonte League opener Wednesday? After one trip through the lineup, the Scorpions were perfect: nine hits and nine runs.

The rest was easy as Camarillo cruised to an 18-1 victory over the Highlanders, who are expected to challenge the Scorpions in league play.

“It’s nice to have leadership like that,” Camarillo Coach Scott Cline said. “To have seniors who have the maturity to call a meeting and recognize when something is going wrong. That’s a big step.”

The highlights were plentiful for Camarillo (5-1).

Borchard (2-1), who allowed one run and five hits in five innings, homered from each side of the plate for the second time in his high school career. Borchard finished with three hits and five runs batted in.

“I’m just glad we were on the right side of this,” Borchard said.

Tony Murphy, dropped from fifth to ninth in the batting order after a recent slump, capped the first-inning barrage with a three-run home run to left field that gave the Scorpions a 9-0 lead before an out was recorded.

“That was good for him; he was getting a little stressed out,” Cline said.

Two Royal pitchers--starter Mike Byer (0-2) and Matt Rainer--were pulled before they recorded an out.

Byer pitched to five batters, allowing a two-run home run by Borchard in the first inning and doubles by Kroneberger and Bannon.

Rainer gave up six consecutive hits to open the sixth inning, including Borchard’s second home run, before giving way to twin brother Mike Rainer.

Mike Rainer recorded two outs before Kroneberger hit a grand slam to right field to give Camarillo its final runs.

Mike and Matt Rainer are expected to be Royal’s aces, but they are still rounding into form after recently helping the Highlander soccer team win the Southern Section Division I title.

“They just aren’t ready,” said Royal Coach Dan Maye, whose team is 2-4. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are coming from other sports and we’ve got a lot of young guys. It’s not a great time for us right now.”