Hart Takes Ride on Davidson’s Left

If Andy Davidson were right-handed, according to Hart High Coach Bud Murray, the Indians might not have defeated Valencia, 7-0, Wednesday and moved into sole possession of first place in the Foothill League.

Davidson, a senior left-hander, was not scheduled to start against Valencia. But when Tuesday’s regularly scheduled game was postponed to Wednesday because of rain, it gave Davidson an extra day of rest.

Murray decided to pitch Davidson instead of sophomore Jamie Shields. Davidson responded by throwing a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts.

“He’s left-handed--that tells the whole story,” Murray said. “They don’t think right. A normal person would have felt the pressure.”

Big loss: Westlake, projected to contend for the Marmonte League title on the strength of a powerful batting order, has instead given Coach Chuck Berrington some sleepless nights because of an anemic offense.

Berrington blames his team’s troubles on the loss of catcher Chris Parker, who graduated last year and is playing in the Detroit Tigers’ system.

“The way Chris went about things at practice and in games rolled off on everybody,” Berrington said. “I didn’t know how huge he was for us. “He wasn’t a loud guy or someone who got in your face but the team played to a higher level with him.”

FOOTBALL

Game set: The Ventura County high school all-star football game, sponsored by the Ventura Downtown Lions Club, will be played June 13 at 7 p.m. at Royal High.

Santa Paula’s Hoppy Mumford will coach the West team and Agoura’s Charlie Wegher will coach the East. A banquet for the teams will be held May 17 at 4 p.m. at Ventura College.

SOFTBALL

Rank loss: The Thousand Oaks softball team dealt Simi Valley its first loss of the season last week.

Simi Valley (6-1), without injured Brittney Green, a top slugger who sat out the week with a bruised shoulder, left the bases loaded three times in the Pioneers’ 2-1 loss.

“We just couldn’t produce the clutch hits,” Coach Suzanne Manlet said.

Simi Valley dropped out of the top spot in The Times’ regional poll. Camarillo (4-0), which has given up only one unearned run in four games, moved up to No. 1.

“It’s just one game and that’s how we have to look at it,” Manlet said.

Fit to be tied: Paraclete tied Notre Dame on Monday, leaving the Spirits with a 2-3-2 record. “Does that look like a soccer record or what?” Paraclete Coach Margaret Neill asked.

Neill, whose teams have advanced to Southern Section finals six times, had coached in only one tie in 19 seasons.

TRACK AND FIELD

Record watch: John Beattie, track and field coach at Ventura High, figures his days are numbered as the school record-holder in the boys’ 3,200-meter run.

Beattie ran 9:29.4 in 1980, but sophomore Josh Spiker moved to second on the all-time list Saturday when he clocked 9:36.5 to finish second in the Meet of Champions at Azusa Pacific University.

“I told him, ‘OK, the writing is on the wall,’ ” Beattie said. “We’re going to be switching places pretty soon.”