Moorpark’s Matt Higginbotham wins duel

Seventy minutes. That’s all the time it took to complete a seven-inning Marmonte League baseball game Friday between Simi Valley Royal, ranked No. 1 in Southern Section Division 1, and host Moorpark. And the pitchers were every bit as good as the quick game suggests.

Cody Buckel of Royal pitched like a top pro prospect should, retiring 16 consecutive batters to end the game while striking out six, walking none and yielding two hits.

But the big surprise was that Moorpark junior Matt Higginbotham (5-1) outdueled Buckel. He struck out eight, walked one and gave up two hits in Moorpark’s 2-1 victory.

Buckel (9-1), a Pepperdine signee who had thrown shutouts in his last two outings, gave up two unearned runs in the first inning on three errors.

“We field, they don’t score a run,” Royal Coach Dan Maye said.

Moorpark (20-8, 10-3), however, did a good job making contact in the first inning while forcing Royal to make plays. Luke Swenson’s leadoff single got the Musketeers going. Then came a misplayed bunt by Buckel and a wild throw to first on an attempt to complete a double play. Another throwing error allowed the second run to score.

Meanwhile, Higginbotham, a 5-foot-11 right-hander, was taking advantage of an attentive audience of scouts to stick his name in everybody’s notebook as a player to watch. He handled the pressure and the challenge of facing Buckel well.

“When you’re standing on the mound, you can’t really look up because there are about 12 scouts standing behind you,” he said. “It’s a little bit intimidating, but you get over it.”

Said Moorpark Coach Scott Fullerton: “On the day, we counted one pitch he didn’t hit his spot. Other than that, he was on every pitch.”

Royal (21-6, 11-2) has already clinched at least a share of the Marmonte League title, but now the Highlanders need to beat Thousand Oaks on Wednesday to win it outright. Buckel threw only 68 pitches, so he’s expected to get the starting assignment.

What’s clear is that the Marmonte is loaded with quality pitchers. Earlier this week, Westlake Village Westlake and Newbury Park took 66 minutes to compete a pitchers’ duel between Alex Daley and Jordan Brower. Royal has an exceptional No. 2 in Tyler Abbott. Newbury Park has Oregon-bound Jimmie Sherfy. And there are others throughout the league.

“I think the offense is down across the Marmonte,” Maye said. “The pitching is up.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com