A Wild One for Camarillo

It was supposed to be a duel of aces, but Alex Merricks of Oxnard High found that he was battling more than Jim Alstot of Camarillo.

Merricks, a junior left-hander who is among the region’s strikeout leaders, struggled to control his fastball, walking seven batters and striking out eight in three innings.

Alstot, a senior right-hander, struck out 10 in league-leading Camarillo’s 13-1 Pacific View League victory that was halted after five innings because of the 10-run rule Thursday at Oxnard High.

Merricks, who struck out 18 in nine innings in his previous start and had 32 strikeouts over 16 innings entering the game, didn’t have it from the start.

Camarillo scored two of its three runs in the first inning on bases-loaded walks.

The Scorpions worked Merricks into deep counts and came up with run-scoring hits from Justin Frash, whose two-run single in the second gave Camarillo a 5-0 lead, and Delmon Young, who had an RBI double in the third.

“One thing I’ve learned is baseball is a humbling game,” said Merricks, who gave up seven runs. “You can’t get too up and you can’t get too down.”

His pitches were up and down, and left and right. Merricks (3-3) pitched with the bases loaded in each of his three innings for Oxnard (3-12, 1-5 in league play).

As Merricks struggled, Alstot (6-2) continued to establish himself for Camarillo (15-5, 8-0).

Alstot allowed two hits, the first by Francisco Lopez leading off the fifth, and one run in five innings.

“What I needed out of Jimmy, I got,” Camarillo Coach Scott Cline said. “It was a situation where we had to have him on his game against an excellent pitcher. He’s going to get the ball in those situations.”

Alstot retired 11 of the first 13 batters. He has 54 strikeouts in 34 innings this season.

“Once you have confidence, that’s the big thing,” said Alstot, who struggled earlier in the season but has lowered his earned-run average to 2.91.

“I can understand what [Merricks] went through. At the start of the season, I did not have my best stuff. I know what it’s like to fight with it.”

Merricks, who has 73 strikeouts and 34 walks in 34 2/3 innings, has had bouts with wildness, but none like this.

“I saw they were going to take pitches,” he said. “It gets hard when you’re behind in the count and giving them the advantage all the time.”