Frasco’s Surprise Pitch: ‘I Quit’

On a day she was scheduled to pitch against Montclair Prep, Stephanie Frasco of El Camino Real instead threw a curveball at Coach Neils Ludlow.

She quit.

“She came out before the game and said she didn’t want to play anymore,” Ludlow said. “She said she wasn’t getting as much playing time as she thought she should have.”

Frasco and junior Melissa Coogan had been splitting time in the pitching circle until Frasco’s exit on Wednesday.

The senior right-hander who was the Conquistadores’ ace as a sophomore with a 14-2 record, was 2-1 and had not allowed an earned run in 15 innings this season.

Last year Frasco was 7-0 as the No. 2 pitcher behind Ashley Redlin, who finished 17-3 and led El Camino Real to a City Section title. In three seasons, Frasco was 23-3 with a 0.48 earned run average.

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No team in the region was playing better defense than Thousand Oaks.

Until Saturday.

The Lancers (5-2-1), who made only one error in their first seven games, committed three errors in a 1-0 loss to Crescenta Valley in a semifinal game of the Downey tournament.

“We kind of fell apart defensively,” Coach Gary Walin said.

Still, Walin prefers to look on the bright side of losing to The Times’ top-ranked team in the region: It wasn’t a Marmonte League game.

“We’re 2-0 in league and I was real concerned with our start since we’re not playing our best yet,” Walin said.

“This league is a little better than I thought. This is going to be a struggle this year. No one is going to cakewalk through this thing.”

Two games into league play, Thousand Oaks and Westlake are the only undefeated teams in the league.

That will change today. The Lancers host Westlake at Thousand Oaks Community Park at 3:30 p.m.

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Some words of advice for players hoping for a free pass from Crescenta Valley ace Meredith Cervenka:

Don’t count on it.

Cervenka, who has pitched 214 innings without allowing an earned run, has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 41-1.

The junior right-hander has struck out 81 and walked only two in 45 innings.

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No, it’s not short for Joanna.

Or Josephine.

Or Jolene.

Or Jody.

Her name is Joey McKearn and the Thousand Oaks left fielder has grown tired of new acquaintances assuming it’s a nickname.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” McKearn said. “I get it all the time.”