Warrior softball team loses a pitching duel to Newbury Park

Photos by PATRICK SHELBY/Acorn Newspapers TOUGH DAY TO BE A HITTER-Clockwise, Westlake's Melissa Preish goes down swinging. Newbury Park teammates Hailee Hanna, Whitney Born and Alison Turley celebrate the team's second win of the season, and Warrior third baseman Kaitlyn Pippin gets a sign from her third base coach. Newbury Park senior pitcher Tiffany Curtis never realized she was one strike away from tossing a no-hitter against Westlake Tuesday afternoon.

"I didn't know that," said Curtis following Newbury Park's 1-0 over the Warriors (0-3, 0-1). "Yeah (that's news), I didn't know."

Under a chilly, yet rain-free, springtime sky at Borchard Park, Curtis and Westlake sophomore Jenna Becerra staged a classic pitching duel.

Curtis' stat line was a work of art-seven innings pitched, one hit allowed, 15 strikeouts, two walks, and most important: Newbury Park's (2-1, 1-0) first Marmonte League win of the season.

"I thought I did alright," Curtis said. "I could have done a lot better, especially with the walks. At least we got away with the win."

Curtis said she hadn't been practicing much recently because of a school commitment. Once she gets some extended practice time, she said, her pitching should improve.

Becerra was nearly as masterful on the mound. She pitched a complete game, allowing one run on four hits and striking out 11 Panther batters.

"I felt good. I felt like I was hitting my spots pretty well," Becerra said. "And the defense did really good. We just need to start hitting the ball. I'm actually surprised we did that well, because we're pretty young."

NPHS senior center fielder Whitney Born scored the game's only run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Born had reached base with a one-out walk and later stole second.

Becerra struck out Kelani Jennings for the second out. Panther senior Lindsey Cunningham followed with a bloop into short center field that Westlake second baseman Nicole Glaser was unable to corral. Cunningham's hit scored Born and the Newbury Park players mobbed their teammate at the plate.

As Tuesday's scoreboard would indicate, both teams continue to struggle on offense. Westlake has only scored two runs in three games. And despite a pair of early-season wins, Newbury Park has plated just three base runners.

Warrior second-year head coach Lynn Baum said her young team, which features six freshmen and five sophomores, needs to play more games to develop some kind of rhythm on offense. The Warriors, like the majority of the teams in the Marmonte, have had several preseason games cancelled because of rain.

"It's slowed us up a lot because we've only had two games and we should have had at least four by now," Baum said. "It's hard to practice in this kind of weather, too. It's slowed up our progress somewhat.

"Hopefully the weather can stay good for awhile and we'll be able to work on a lot more hitting situations and get the sticks going," the coach said. "That's the most important thing, you can't win if you can't score."

After losing eight seniors from a team that finished fourth in the Marmonte in 2005, Baum expects her squad to go through some growing pains this year, but the coach said making the playoffs remains a realistic goal.

"I think that they can (make the playoffs) with a little bit of work-work on our bats," she said. "On defense we have the ability to make the playoffs."

Before coming to Westlake prior to last season, Baum previously coached at Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks.

Becerra will serve as Westlake's No. 1 pitcher, said Baum. Rachel Wisuri also will see significant time on the mound.

Sophomores Nora Sobczak, Alexandra Ackourey and Becerra, along with seniors Shayna Aken and Clarissa Bernardo, are expected to carry the load offensively for the Warriors.

"A lot of these kids, it's their first time playing this high of a level of ball, especially the freshmen," Baum said. "And they haven't really been playing competitive travel ball. A couple of them are just starting to play travel ball. So they haven't seen this type of pitching yet. . . .I'm hoping they'll adjust as soon as possible."

Westlake will get another shot at its first win of the season today when they host Agoura at 3:30 p.m.