The baseball team at Newbury Park High made it clear this week that it will make some noise this season as it plays through its the Marmonte League schedule.

In a game with the visiting Moorpark Musketeers on Monday, the Panthers garnered only one hit, but managed to win, 2-1. They expect to be ready to play even better against the Westlake Warriors when the teams meet at Newbury Park on April 6 at 3:30 p.m. after spring break.

"We’re going to get better the more games we play," Panther head coach Scott Drootin said. "We hit the ball pretty hard and their pitcher (senior John Bostwick) is pretty crafty. I was happy with our at-bats. We played a team game."

With the score tied at 1-1 in the first half of the third inning, Panther junior first baseman Cody Fierro came home from third base on a balk by Bostwick. It turned out to be the difference.

"Moorpark’s good and if we can challenge those guys maybe it will give some other guys some confidence," Drootin said. "We’ve sure been working hard enough."

Fierro got the Panthers (4-3, 1-1) on the scoreboard with a home run over the 360-foot marker on the left field fence on Bostwick’s second pitch of the first inning. It was the only hit he allowed Newbury Park the entire game.

"I hit an off-speed pitch," Fierro said. "I think it was a changeup. I stayed on top and believed in myself. I was kind of struggling the first five or six games. My timing was off."

Moorpark (4-3, 1-1) came to bat in the top of the second inning and the first batter, senior third baseman Justin Bogoyevac, answered Fierro’s blast for the Musketeers with a homer off Panther senior hurler Travis Scott. It went over the center field fence, 370 feet from home plate.

Nevertheless, Scott maintained his composure and went on to strike out 10 Musketeer batters and scattered four hits. He got the victory, and did so with a dislocated left shoulder.

"I just kept it (the shoulder) tucked the whole time and it actually made my curve ball break a lot better than it usually does," he said.

Scott hurt his shoulder March 10 in the Loyola game in a pickle between third base and home plate.

"I dislocated it pretty bad and couldn’t move it for a week. I came out and wasn’t going to let the team down," Scott said. "I wasn’t just going to let them go out there. If I could pitch I was going to pitch. I did my best and we got a victory. That was all we can ask for."

Drootin was impressed with Scott’s performance.

"Our pitcher showed guts," the coach said afterwards.

Scott said another major factor in the win was the defensive effort of the Panthers, who forced the Musketeers to earn their hits.

"(Sophomore Jason) Anderson was all over the place," Scott said. "He was like a greyhound out there. We have (junior Josh) Baker in left field just catching everything and (senior Matt) Ross in right with a hose. He can hose out anyone. We have a good team. We have all the talent. We just have to put it all together at one time."

In addition to the good work by the outfielders cited by Scott, Drootin said that among others he was pleased by the play of freshman catcher Jojo Scharrar.

"Scharrar was outstanding," the coach said. "He has soft hands. That guy is going to be one of the best players around. When he leaves this school his name will be down as one of the better guys around here.

"He’s awesome. He really handles the pitchers well. We have a couple of guys on the bench who can play. But right there everybody pulled for everybody, so I appreciate that."

Last week as the league season began, the Panthers lost 16-2 to a Royal Highlander team that is the No. 9 ranked team in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division I–and the only Marmonte League team among the top 10 schools in the Division I baseball poll.

Yesterday Newbury Park played the Agoura Chargers, and tomorrow the Panthers will be at Ventura to play the Cougars of the Channel League in a 3:15 p.m. game.

Next Tuesday through Thursday Newbury Park will be playing in the San Luis Obispo Easter Tournament.