Camarillo Hitting Below Own Mendoza Line

A mediocre offense finally caught up with Camarillo, which has no player batting near .300.

The Scorpions’ nine-game winning streak to open the season was ended by Natalie King of Fountain Valley, who pitched a one-hitter in the Barons’ 1-0 victory in a quarterfinal game of the Fountain Valley tournament.

Alana Mendoza is the Scorpions’ top-hitter at .265. As for the team batting average, don’t ask.

“I don’t know, but it sure isn’t good,� Coach Miki Mangan said.

The winning streak is over, but the Nevard twins’ pitching streak certainly is not.

Kathryn and Meredith Nevard have pitched a combined 70 innings for Camarillo and have yielded two runs, both unearned.

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Highland is having no such offensive problems.

The Bulldogs (9-4) were batting .325 before scoring 29 runs during three games last week.

Highland was beaten, 2-0, Monday night in the High Desert Classic final by Jodie Cox of Quartz Hill, 1998 Valley player of the year, but managed seven hits.

“They’re a tough hitting team,� Cox said. “Always have been, always will be.�

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Monday marked the 60th career victory for Cox, who is closing in on several other milestones.

She needs 22 strikeouts for 700 in her career.

Cox is five home runs shy of the Southern Section career record of 28. Her 18 triples trail Oli Keohoho of Newbury Park on the section career list, and Cox next run will be her 100th.

“Those things are all neat,� Cox said. “But it’s not like I go into games thinking about stuff like that.�

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Starters are coming and going at Crescenta Valley.

Just days after getting second baseman Danielle Proctor back in the lineup, the Falcons lost catcher Heidi Hucthausen because of a shoulder sprain.

Hucthausen injured her shoulder diving for a pop up against Quartz Hill on Saturday and is out indefinitely.

Proctor, who strained her anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during soccer season, returned to the lineup after being sidelined for nearly two months.

“What was supposed to be seven to 10 days turned into [more than] seven weeks,� Coach Dan Berry said.

Although Proctor has struggled at the plate since her return, her experience in the infield is felt.

“That’s a big plus for us,� Berry said. “I can’t say enough good things about her.�

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Kristen Ward of La Reina finally let one get away.

Ward, a junior right-hander, went 22 consecutive innings without surrendering a walk before issuing a free base to a Buena batter last week.

And Ward left little to suspense.

“She lost it all at once, four straight [balls]� Coach Don Hyatt said. “As soon as she walked [the batter], she looked at me and you could tell she was ticked.�

Ward shouldn’t be too upset: Her strikeout-to-walk ratio is 19 to one.

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Meredith Cervenka (7-4) of Crescenta Valley is averaging 10 strikeouts a game.

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Alemany is playing home games on its own campus for the first time.

The Indians, who previously played at Sylmar Independent Baseball League fields, have converted a baseball field into a softball facility.

Mission League rival Notre Dame also was hoping to have a new-looking facility after refurbishing the field at Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Park, but the Knights have thus far been unable to host a game there.

“The grass is still growing in,� Coach Cindy Kramer said.

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The Mission League, which sent Chaminade and Harvard-Westlake to the Southern Section Division III semifinals and Alemany to the quarterfinals last season, is off to a slow start.

Only Flintridge Sacred Heart (7-2) and Notre Dame (3-2) entered the week with winning records.

Chaminade (2-5-1) might still be one of the top teams in the division.

Of the Eagles’ losses, two have come to defending Division I champion and nationally-ranked Santa Ana Mater Dei, two came against 1998 Division II finalist Cerritos and the fifth was by forfeit to Simi Valley.

They have defeated Pacific League favorite Crescenta Valley and Paraclete, and tied Foothill League favorite Hart.

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It’s been do-or-dye at Antelope Valley, where dark-haired Coach Kristi Speir promised her players she would dye her hair blond if the Antelopes won five games.

Antelope Valley, 4-20 last season, is 6-3 after advancing to the Division II championship game of the High Desert Classic on Monday.

“I’m going to have it done [professionally],� Speir said of the dye job. “The players want to do it, but I think they want to make it rainbow-colored. I don’t trust them.�

Antelope Valley hopes to continue winning by a hair.

Assistant Terry Bleyl has vowed to shave his mustache if the Antelopes can finish with a .500 record. That would require five more victories.

“It would be worth it,� said Bleyl, who has had the mustache for 30 years.

Staff writers Dave Desmond and Paige A. Leech contributed to this notebook.