Newbury Park softball team stymied by Camarillo's Dean

BETTER DAYS AHEAD- Panther catcher Hailee Hanna isn't excited to see Camarillo score. Camarillo junior pitcher Lindsey Dean threw a complete game one-hitter Tuesday afternoon at Borchard Park as the Scorpions downed Newbury Park, 4-0, in the Panther softball team's regular-season opener.

"It was great defense," Dean said. "I don't get very many strikeouts. My defense really backed me up. There was good pitch-calling and I tried to hit my spots."

Despite giving up four runs in defeat, Newbury Park senior hurler Tiffany Curtis was nearly as dominant as Dean. Curtis also pitched a complete game, allowing nine hits and striking out 13 Camarillo batters.

"(Curtis) pitched a great game," third-year NPHS head coach Darrin Carr said. "Lindsey Dean pitched a tremendous game, also. You've got to give them a lot of credit. They're a very good team, well coached."

Newbury Park (0-1) had its best chance to score in the first inning when Lindsey Cunningham and Jessie Hofius drew back-toback walks with two outs. A fielder's choice groundout by Hailee Hanna ended the rally.

FOCUSED-NPHS third baseman Jessie Hofius waits for the ball. Camarillo (4-0) pushed across two runs in the top of the third inning when sophomore Delaney Willard's blooper to right field plated a pair of base runners.

The Scorpions threatened again in the fourth inning, but Curtis pitched out of the jam without allowing another run to score.

Cunningham laced a triple into the right-centerfield gap to lead off the bottom of the fourth, breaking up the no-hitter. But Dean, utilizing a wicked combination of outside drop balls, screwballs, changeups, and outside and inside fastballs, was able to retire the next three Panther batters to quash the rally.

"We pretty much knew that she lived on the outside with her changeup," Cunningham said of her triple. "So I pretty much wanted to go with the ball and get a good swing on it."

After issuing a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the fifth, Dean didn't allow another Newbury Park batter to reach base.

Camarillo scored its third run of the contest when senior Katelyn Miller tripled and advanced home on a throwing error in the top of the sixth. The Scorpions finished off the scoring later in the inning when Lindsey Pierce's RBI single scored Natasha Soedjadi.

Carr said he would've liked to get the season off on the right foot with a win against a tough squad like Camarillo, but added that the Panthers still have a ways to go at the plate and on defense before they can beat the upper-echelon teams in the county.

"Once we get these little kinks out of our system, we'll be all right," the coach said.

Newbury Park, which posted a 16-10 overall record in 2005, including a third-place finish in the Marmonte League, graduated its best hitter, catcher Caitlin Bailey (.465 average, 23 RBI, three home runs), and lost its finest base stealer, Vaiolini Gago (19 stolen bases in 21 attempts), during the offseason.

Replacing Bailey's bat and Gago's speed won't be easy, Carr said. Players who will be expected to pick up the slack offensively for NPHS will include Whitney Born, Nikki Graham, Cunningham, Hanna, Hofius, Curtis and Bryann Schwartz.

Curtis pitched 140 of 174 total innings a year ago for the Panthers, posting a 12-7 record with an ERA of 1.14 and striking out 173 batters. She'll be counted on to be a workhorse once again this season.

"I like pitching," Curtis said. "As much as I can, I'll pitch."

Cunningham will join Curtis in the starting rotation this year. She didn't play last season while recovering from a torn ACL.

"She's strong, she's very strong," Carr said. "I feel comfortable with both of them, and going with a rotation is going to take some pressure off (Curtis)."

The Marmonte League has four guaranteed playoff spots this season, up from three in previous years. But despite the change, Carr said his team's goal remains the same.

"This is still a team that wants to win league," Carr said. "If they put everything together, they can win league. It's nice to have the four (postseason) spots, but we don't want to be fourth."