GO WITH JOE

Were high school baseball teams in the habit of using promotional slogans, Camarillo High could have rallied around the same mantra the past two seasons:

Just go with Joe.

The Scorpion catalyst last year was Joe Borchard, an outfielder whose standout senior season propelled the team to its first Marmonte League title in more than 10 years and earned him recognition as The Times’ Ventura County player of the year.

This year, Camarillo’s protagonist is senior catcher Joe Yingling, who has made a case for himself as the county’s best player while keeping a team with a mostly ordinary cast in the thick of the league race.

“Borchard was the type of kid who never slacked off, who was a leader at practice, and who carried us every day,” Coach Scott Cline said. “With Joe Yingling, I see the exact same thing taking place.”

From those similarities, the players’ paths are likely to diverge. Borchard, a natural athlete and a strong student, chose to play football and baseball at Stanford after being selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 20th round of the amateur draft.

Yingling, who began high school as an indifferent student and who remains motivated more by line drives than by academics, wins universal praise for his work ethic on the field but will have limited options after graduating next month.

Yingling has not applied to four-year colleges or taken the standardized entry tests required for admission. He can do little else but accept his fate in the June draft or attend junior college.

“Joe knows what he wants to do and he doesn’t want to go to school,” Cline said. “He’s put himself in a position where he wants to sign and I think it’s a good decision. I think he needs to keep playing baseball.”

Others, citing the fact that Yingling won’t turn 18 until September, believe he would be better off delaying a pro career a year or two. But few argue that Yingling, whose mature features and businesslike approach give him the appearance of being years older than his peers, has been anything but one of the region’s best players.

After batting behind Borchard in the lineup last year and hitting .400, Yingling is batting .536 with six home runs and 35 runs batted in, helping the Scorpions to a 16-6 record.

“As a junior he was strong, but he seemed to hit mainly fly balls to the left side,” Royal Coach Dan Maye said. “This year, he’s able to go the other direction. [On April 29] we pitched him away and he hit it into the opposite gap for a triple. The next time he came up we [intentionally walked] him.”

Maye, a former catcher at Cal State Dominguez Hills, said Yingling is also better at blocking pitches in the dirt and has improved his arm’s strength and accuracy. Yingling has not been charged with a passed ball this season.

Cline allows Yingling, 6 feet 1 and 180 pounds, to call his own pitches, a rarity in high school. The catcher has guided a staff weakened by injury and short on experience.

“I tell [the pitchers] to not be afraid to shake me off but just keep the ball down,” he said. “I know what they do and don’t like to throw in situations and they usually know why I call for a certain pitch at a certain time.”

Yingling also pitches and twice this season has shed his catcher’s gear and moved to the mound during an inning. Although there is little guile in his approach, Yingling is 2-2 with a save and has provided the staff with moxie.

“Our league is the best around and I haven’t seen anybody better in it,” Cline said. “He’s the epitome of a self-made player because he’s out working on his game every Saturday and every Sunday. He lives at our field.”

Despite Yingling’s dedication and his improvement, many say he needs seasoning. Last month, an NCAA Division I coach at a Scorpion game loved Yingling’s approach to hitting but noted that his throws to second were a split-second slow.

One veteran major league scout said he fears Yingling will soon find himself out of baseball if he takes an early plunge into the pro ranks. There isn’t a big hurry with a player so young.

“Yingling is a man physically and I respect how hard he works, but I think he has a long way to go as a baseball player,” the scout said. “A lot of [pro] teams are college-player oriented at the lower levels and younger players aren’t given a real chance. If Joe goes to junior college and continues putting up the numbers he has, he might win over some people who have questions about his ability.”

A pro team could take a chance on him as a draft-and-follow, meaning he would be drafted but encouraged to attend junior college rather than sign. The team that drafts him retains signing rights until the following year’s draft and could sign him next spring.

Yingling, not known for being loquacious, is characteristically taciturn about his future.

“I’m going to see how it goes with the draft and if it doesn’t work out, then I’ll see what happens with [four-year schools] and, if that doesn’t work out, then I’ll look at [junior colleges],” he said.

For now, Yingling is looking ahead to the final two weeks of the league season. The Scorpions are in the throes of a three-game losing streak that has dropped them from first place to third.

“Pitching, pitching, pitching--we have to fix it and I’m part of that,” Yingling said. “We’re just waiting for people to step up.”

And to just go with Joe.