Sharts Helps Simi Valley Bury Another League Foe

See that speck off in the distance? See what could be, with a little imagination, a bunch of guys wearing maroon and gold and carrying bats and gloves?

If you can’t, don’t feel too badly. Neither can most of the other teams in the Marmonte League.

Simi Valley High, by virtue of Friday’s 5-0 win over Channel Islands, buried one more league opponent in the hunt for the title. Thousand Oaks, at 6-2 in league play, is the only team within shouting distance of the Pioneers.

“We’ve eliminated five teams from the championship with this win,� Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers said moments after Scott Sharts pitched a three-hitter at Channel Islands.

The Pioneers are 18-5, 8-1 in league play and the odds-on favorite to win their third consecutive title. Simi Valley plays host to Thousand Oaks on May 11.

Sharts improved his record to 8-0 and lowered his earned-run average to 1.04 with his first shutout this season.

“The pitching I was pleased with today,� Sharts said. “Everything was working and I hit my spots well. When we get a big lead, that’s what I’ve got to do.�

The question remains, with the 6-foot, 6-inch, 220-pound Sharts on the mound, at one point do the Pioneers start considering a lead big?

It could have been after the first inning, or even after the third batter who, by no coincidence, is Sharts himself.

Sharts slammed a 2-2 fastball down the left-field line to score Darren Aurand from first base. Two batters later, Greg Gerber hit a high fastball over the fence in left field to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead.

In the second, Andy Hodgins reached first on a fielder’s choice and ambled home on Darin Furlong’s third homer, a 360-foot drive to center field.

Falling behind to Sharts, 5-0, in the second inning is like jutting out your chin and giving Mike Tyson one free shot.

Sharts needed only 83 pitches and walked only one batter. He struck out 6, giving him 68 in 60 innings.

“When the master is out on the mound, you do the best you can,� Channel Islands Coach Don Cardinal said. “We were never in the ballgame, that was the problem.�

Cardinal reasoned his team would be in the game, what with his master--Andy Beltowski--on the mound. Beltowski had not lost in five decisions before Friday, but he got his fastball up in the strike zone too many times, and Simi Valley took advantage.

“He got that ball up and Gerber and Furlong made it bad for him,� Cardinal said. “You don’t get that ball up against those guys. They have a bunch of ‘em who can hit ‘em out.�

Which makes things that much easier for Sharts, who has 14 home runs this season.

“You gotta love that,� Sharts said. “The little guys hitting the ball out. Heck, they come up to my kneecaps.�

Terry Hill had two of Simi Valley’s hits--a leadoff single in the third and a two-out double in the fifth.

On this day, however, it was the pitching of Sharts that overshadowed the hitting--even his own.

“Sharts pitched outstanding baseball,� Scyphers said. “Throwing 86-plus, the change and throwing his curveball for strikes. There aren’t many teams who could hit him.�

And there aren’t many teams left that can catch the Pioneers.