Lancers offense goes silent in 4-0 loss to AHS
By Kyle Jorrey
jorrey@theacorn.com

A LITTLE LATE-Thousand Oaks first baseman Kelly Cordiero can't make the catch before Agoura's Christina Depippo reaches first base during last Tuesday's game at Thousand Oaks High School. The Lancers lost, 4-0, leaving five runners stranded and giving up three runs in the seventh. Today Thousand Oaks is playing at Westlake at 3:30 p.m.

Agoura head softball coach Jim Wike knew what the headlines would read and what the opposing fans would say if Tuesday’s game against Thousand Oaks had ended 1-0 in favor of the Chargers.

They’d say a controversial call in the sixth inning over a check swing gave Agoura its only run and the game. They’d say that Agoura didn’t earn the victory, but rather had it given to them by the umpires.

Wike didn’t want to see that happen.

"I told the kids before the last inning that if we win this game by one run, we’re never going to hear the end of it," Wike said. "How it was a controversial call and that’s the only reason why we won. So I told them we needed to go out there and score some runs. Apparently, they listened."

Thanks to a two-run home run by freshman Desiree Beltran and a sacrifice fly by junior Chelsea Martinson any dispute over the final score was put to rest in the seventh as Agoura cruised to a 4-0 upset victory over the Lancers.

Led by a stellar performance on the mound by senior pitcher Alyssa Neilson, who constantly kept the potent T.O. offense guessing by varying speeds, the Chargers improved to 4-5 in league with five games to play. The Lancers fell to 6-3 in Marmonte and are now a full two games behind first-place Royal (8-1) with a game today against rival Westlake and the start of their host tournament Saturday.

But Tuesday belonged to the Chargers.

"This was a game our team really wanted," Neilson said. "And I think it showed in how we played."

The first five innings of the game, which seemed to fly by in a matter of minutes, were dominated by good pitching and strong defense. In fact, T.O. freshman pitcher Brittany Reynolds, who started the game in the place of a recovering Suzanne Cominksi, had a no-hitter through four.

Try as they might, neither team could get the ball out of the infield, with T.O. especially struggling to capitalize on scoring opportunities. The Lancers stranded a runner in each of the first four innings as Neilson constantly got herself out of jams with strikeouts, pop flies and soft rollers.

"We knew we had to keep the ball down and keep it in the park, and we knew we had to throw change-ups to keep them off balance," Wike said. "They are a very good hitting team. There’s no doubt about that. But our pitcher just threw a great game. She has a lot to be proud of for this performance."

Neilson said experience was an important factor.

"I’ve been pitching against T.O. for the past three seasons so I knew a little about what to throw and what not to throw," the senior said. "I just gave it all I had and my defense was there to back me up. . . . We were really pumped for this game and wanted to get our season turned around."

The controversy began in the sixth inning as Agoura junior Kelly Mead came up to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs. With the count at 2-2, Mead seemed to take a cut at a pitch that got away from catcher Mathews. Thinking it was strike three, Mathews threw the ball to first to get the final out as the Agoura runners advanced to second and third.

But Mead, believing that she had checked her swing and hearing no word from the umpire, went nowhere. And in all the confusion, Agoura’s Martinson crossed home plate.

Despite the impassioned pleas of T.O. head coach Gary Walin and the Lancer fans, the umpires ruled that: (1) Mead had indeed checked her swing, (2) the pitch was a ball and (3) the run would count.

After walking Mead on the next pitch, Reynolds got out of the highly-emotional inning by striking out the next batter.

T.O.’s Samantha Takeshita led off the bottom half of the inning with a double as the Lancers, no strangers to come-from-behind victories, looked to make amends for the controversial call. But Neilson retired the next three T.O. batters in order, getting senior Genna Allen to hit a pop fly to the third baseman and Mathews to ground out to first.

After Agoura’s fireworks in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs on three hits, T.O. went out quietly 1-2-3 in its final at-bat as Neilson got the victory.

Today Thousand Oaks (11-5, 6-3) travels to take on rival Westlake in its final game before the start of the two-week long Thousand Oaks Tournament, an event which features 24 well-respected teams from all across the Southern Section.

Six teams in the lineup are ranked in the top 10 of the CIF-Southern Section Division I poll — Valencia (No. 1), Rosary (4), Mater Dei (5), Camarillo (8), Royal (9) and Thousand Oaks (10).

When T.O. and Westlake played earlier in the season, the Lancer bats came alive and Reynolds pitched a complete game in a 10-4 T.O. victory.

Today’s game begins at 3:30 p.m.