Van Nuys Hurting After Collision in the Outfield

Outfielder Teressa Guzman has been lost to the Van Nuys High softball team at least temporarily after she and Tatiana Gipson were involved in a collision while going for a fly ball in the third inning of the Wolves’ 16-9 loss to Sylmar in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game last week at Sylmar.

Both players were hurt and everyone who saw the play was shaken up by the sight of the collision, Van Nuys Coach Ken Cordero said.

“It was head-on, and they came together full-force,” Cordero said. “Tatiana is like, my fastest runner on the team, and Teressa’s also pretty quick. . . . It was a terrifying collision.”

There was a 25-minute delay in the game as both players were taken by ambulance to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

Guzman, a senior right-fielder who is batting .409, could not recall the play afterward. She suffered a concussion, a deep cut on the left inside of her mouth and lingering whiplash-like pain in her jaw, neck and back. She is expected to sit out at least two weeks and will undergo physical therapy for her back and neck.

“I don’t remember the impact at all,” Guzman said. “ My friends told me about it, and they said they got it on tape. I want to see it.”

Gipson, a junior center-fielder who is batting .407 and has 10 runs batted in, suffered from a headache, a sore shoulder, and stomach pains.

“I didn’t call for it, because I wasn’t sure if I was going to get there, and she didn’t call for it, either,” Guzman said. “All I saw was the ball, her glove, and her hair flying.” For the record, Guzman caught the ball, but dropped it upon impact and umpires ruled she did not have possession long enough for the out.

Going nowhere: The Ventura baseball team has been plagued by a lack of clutch hitting and by its pitchers’ inaccuracy while posting a 4-9 record overall and 2-3 in the Channel League.

At the plate, the Cougars have stranded 154 runners in their first 12 games.

As for pitching, a 6-2 loss last Friday to San Marcos spoke volumes about Ventura’s season. In one inning, Ventura issued two walks followed by a hit, a dropped fly ball and a grand slam.

“We try to explain to the kids that each walk is like giving [the opponent] an extra hit,” Cougar Coach Dan Smith said. “Baseball’s all pressure situations and we haven’t done well in them.”

Slow starter: Poly’s Gus Banuelos has turned it around after a dismal start. After getting two hits in his first 23 at-bats, Banuelos has hit safely 11 times in his next 29 at-bats, an eight-game stretch in which he has driven 15 of his 17 runs.

During the same span, Banuelos has gone from 0-3 as a pitcher to 4-3.

Growing pains: Second-year Oxnard baseball Coach Dan Garcia, in the midst of rebuilding the Yellowjackets, is upbeat about his team despite its 4-5 record and 1-4 Channel League mark. Oxnard was 3-18 and 2-12 last season.

“I’ve seen results; their knowledge of the game has improved,” said Garcia, who starts no more than three seniors. “We don’t make as many mental mistakes, now it’s physical errors and being tense. Last year we put the foundation down. This year we’re framing it up and next year we’ll try to put the roof on.”

Big bat: Ismael Rangsiyawong of North Hollywood High stands 5 feet 9 and weighs 155 pounds. But he packs a punch.

Rangsiyawong, a junior second baseman, was five for 14 with two home runs and five runs batted in last week in the Durango tournament in Las Vegas.

Rangsiyawong hit two home runs during the tournament’s home run contest.

“Everyone took a look at him in the contest and they were like, ‘You gotta be kidding,’ ” Coach George Vranau said.

Double take: Two people wore a No. 22 jersey with the name Fullerton on the back for Moorpark in last week’s game at Calabasas. One was Coach Scott Fullerton and the other was. . . .left fielder Joseph Malagon.

Malagon brought his gold jersey for the road game, but when the Coyotes showed up with gold jerseys, the Musketeers switched to gray tops. That’s when Malagon realized he was in trouble.

With the loaner, Malagon had one hit in three at-bats in a 3-2 loss.