BASEBALL

Pitching and defense have propelled Thousand Oaks (23-6) and Santa Barbara (23-3) into a meeting today in the Division II quarterfinals.

The Channel League champion Dons have won 12 consecutive games behind right-hander Matt Vasquez (11-1), who has piqued the interest of scouts with his 88-92 mph fastball.

Vasquez, who has signed with UC Santa Barbara, has 106 strikeouts in 73 innings and an earned-run average of 2.20.

Vasquez is batting .440 and catcher Sam Campo is the Dons’ leading hitter with a .450 average.

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Westlake, which visits Charter Oak in a Division III quarterfinal game today, held its awards banquet Wednesday night, but Coach Chuck Berrington gave out so many awards no one felt slighted.

The team especially enjoyed the banquet because the traditional sense of postseason melancholy was absent.

“We know we have to play A-plus baseball the rest of the way,” Berrington said. “The banquet had some excitement because we aren’t done yet.”