Thousand Oaks tournament is cradle of champions

Over the next two Saturdays, the Thousand Oaks softball tournament will determine a champion. If history is an indicator, someone besides the winner will eventually win something even more valuable -- a section championship.

Four of the last five years and eight of the last 10, this late-season gathering has included an eventual Southern or City section champion.

Thirteen teams in that 10-year span have gone on to take the greater prize, including Woodland Hills El Camino Real, which in 2005 ended San Pedro’s streak of consecutive City titles at five after finishing 15th in the tournament.

Only twice since 1993 have teams won the Thousand Oaks tournament and followed up by winning a section title, West Hills Chaminade in 1999 behind pitcher Maureen LeCocq, and Cerritos in 2000 behind pitcher Jessica van der Linden.

“You could finish anywhere and still do well in the playoffs because it primes you for those high-caliber games,” said Gary Walin, Thousand Oaks’ coach since 1994. “It’s like playing playoff games before the playoffs start.”

Only four times since 1993 has the tournament failed to include an eventual section champion.

Last season, Irvine Beckman -- playing only its second year of varsity competition -- finished eighth in the tournament then won the Southern Section Division III title. The unseeded Patriots went into the playoffs four games under .500, then peeled off five consecutive playoff victories.

With pitchers Jasmin Harrell and Trista Thomas back this season, Beckman is among the 16 teams hoping games at Thousand Oaks High and its neighboring community center get them playoff-ready.

But Harrell and Thomas aren’t the two best pitchers in the tournament. That distinction belongs to Newhall Hart left-hander Destiny Rodino and Oak Park’s Julia Rice.

It should be a showcase for three of the section’s top players, infielders Delaney Willard of Camarillo and Heather Stiglich of Newhall Hart, and outfielder Tiffany Messerschmidt of Thousand Oaks.

Thousand Oaks, ranked No. 9 by The Times, No. 10 Camarillo and No. 11 Hart are the title favorites. The tournament championship game is May 3 at 7 p.m.

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martin.henderson@latimes.com

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Baseball rankings

Dan Arritt’s Top 25 (records through games of April 21):

*--* Rk. School Div. LW 1. S.O. Notre Dame (18-2) Div. III 3 2. Los Alamitos (17-3) Div. I 4 3. Crespi (16-5) Div. III 5 4. Orange Lutheran (17-3) Div. I 1 5. Simi Valley (16-6) Div. I 7 6. El Toro (17-4) Div. II 6 7. Mater Dei (16-5) Div. I 8 8. Hart (15-5) Div. I 12 9. Tesoro (14-6) Div. I 2 10. Katella (16-5) Div. II 11 11. West Torrance (17-3) Div. II 15 12. Paramount (17-4) Div. III 16 13. Vista Murrieta (15-5) Div. II 10 14. Valencia (14-6) Div. I 9 15. Northview (15-4) Div. IV 13 16. Patriot (19-1) Div. IV 20 17. Bishop Amat (16-4) Div. V 22 18. Palos Verdes (20-3) Div. II 23 19. St. Bonaventure (17-4) Div. IV 18 20. Thousand Oaks (14-9) Div. I 24 21. Lakewood (16-9) Div. I NR 22. L.B. Wilson (18-5-1) Div. I 17 23. Redlands East Valley (17-2) Div. II NR 24. Royal (16-6) Div. I NR 25. Wilmington Banning (16-7-1) City NR *--*

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Softball rankings

Martin Henderson’s top 25 (records through games of April 14):

*--* Rk. School (record) Div. LW 1. Corona Santiago (21-1) Div. I 1 2. Norco (20-4) Div. I 2 3. El Toro (17-6-1) Div. I 3 4. L.P. Kennedy (20-3) Div. II 4 5. Valencia (18-5) Div. I 5 6. San Pedro (20-3) City 6 7. Simi Valley (21-0) Div. I 8 8. Ana. Canyon (18-5) Div. II 10 9. Thousand Oaks (15-3) Div. I 11 10. Camarillo (14-5) Div. I 12 11. Hart (14-3) Div. I 15 12. Ayala (15-8-1) Div. II 7 13. L.B. Wilson (15-7) Div. II 9 14. El Modena (14-7-1) Div. II 16 15. Lakewood (16-3) Div. II 19 16. Redlands (17-2) Div. II 17 17. Crescenta Valley (19-0) Div. III NR 18. Etiwanda (16-3) Div. II NR 19. Vista Murrieta (13-6) Div. II 13 20. Rosary (16-9) Div. I 25 21. Esperanza (13-6-2) Div. I 14 22. G.G. Pacifica (12-11) Div. II 21 23. Trabuco Hills (12-9-1) Div. I 22 24. Fullerton (16-6) Div. III 24 25. Riverside Poly (12-4) Div. I 18 *--*