Baum, Newbury Park at a Loss

Until two months ago, there was nothing Lynn Baum would have liked better than a Thousand Oaks High softball victory over rival Newbury Park.

She served six seasons on the Lancers’ varsity and junior varsity staffs. Her daughter played in the program.

Then she was hired in January to replace Pete Ackermann as Newbury Park’s coach.

Thursday night marked Baum’s first game against her former program. It also marked her first loss as Panther coach.

Thousand Oaks claimed a 3-0 Marmonte League victory before a large crowd at Borchard Park in Newbury Park.

“We took it as a challenge,” pitcher Nicole Angelo of Thousand Oaks said of facing her former coach. “We wanted to show her what we could do.”

There were few surprises for Baum.

“I know them pretty well,” she said. “I know what T.O. has.”

The Lancers, ranked No. 7 in the region by The Times, have a solid defense, strong pitching and one of the fleetest offenses in the region.

All were on display against Newbury Park (5-1, 1-1 in conference play) when Thousand Oaks (4-1-1, 2-0) broke a scoreless tie with a run in the fourth and two more in the seventh.

It played flawlessly behind Angelo (4-0), a junior right-hander who struck out seven, walked one and allowed three hits.

Angelo, who didn’t allow a runner beyond second base, retired the final 11 batters.

Oli Keohohou, Kamala Kiffe and Katie Stokx, the first three batters in No. 4 Newbury Park’s usually potent lineup, were a combined one for eight.

The Lancers, who shared the league championship with the Panthers last season, had five hits--including two each by Andi Keesling and Michelle Spencer--against Stokx (2-1) and made Newbury Park pay dearly for its defensive lapses.

They scored their first run without a hit. Spencer reached base on an error by Stokx, went to second on a hit batter and to third on a sacrifice.

With one out, Jenny Cochran lofted a ball into foul territory behind first base. Instead of allowing the tough play to fall foul, first baseman Jennifer Dilley made a Willie Mays-style, over-the-shoulder catch, but couldn’t recover in time to keep Spencer from tagging up and scoring.

At least one Lancer batter reached base in every inning, 13 runners overall.

“You can’t let Thousand Oaks baserunners get on base and expect to live through it,” said Baum, whose team’s third error allowed an unearned run in Thousand Oaks’ two-run seventh inning.

Catcher Amber Mastrioanni did her best to bail Newbury Park out.

Mastrioanni twice threw out Keesling, one of the region’s fastest base stealers, to thwart rallies. She has thrown out seven of nine would-be base stealers.

Thousand Oaks set up a first-place showdown next Tuesday against Westlake (4-3, 2-0).