Camarillo Has Eye on Marmonte Title : Softball: Freshman Ball outlasts Newbury Park’s Fox in 11-inning pitching showdown, 1-0.

CAMARILLO â€”  Newbury Park High softball Coach Mike Morgan summarized his team’s 1-0, 11-inning Marmonte League loss to Camarillo on Thursday:

“When you’ve got two good teams and two good pitchers,� he said, “the game is going to come down to who blinks first. And we blinked.�

In that blink of an eye, the Panthers (15-5, 7-3 in league play) fell from a potential first-place tie into third. And they were taken down by a batch of players they’ll see for a few more years.

Freshman catcher Jessica Mendoza led off the bottom of the 11th with a bunt single. Camarillo, with the help of a Newbury Park wild pitch and the Panthers’ failure to record an out on a sacrifice, loaded the bases with nobody out.

Sophomore Brooke Rutschman, making her first start of the season, then hit a chopper to third that drove in the game’s only run, securing the victory for freshman pitcher Cindy Ball.

The Scorpions (17-2-1, 9-1) remain alone atop the league, with Westlake a game behind and Newbury Park two games back.

Camarillo established itself as a title contender when the Scorpions beat Newbury Park, 1-0, in the teams’ first meeting. In that game, the Panthers were surprised to see Ball pitching, and more surprised when the game ended and they didn’t have any hits.

Ball (5-1) scattered four hits Thursday. She struck out seven and did not walk a batter. The Scorpions made only one error behind her.

Newbury Park’s Kristi Fox was equally effective, though. Fox (12-4) gave up three hits. She struck out eight and walked only one. No Camarillo baserunner reached second until the 11th.