Sun sets for East in county All-Star game

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers ON THE MOUND- Ryan De Jesus, a pitcher from the Westlake Warriors baseball team, throws during the Jim Parker All-Star Game. The West won, 7-4, Sunday at Conejo Creek Park South in Thousand Oaks. Paper beats rock. Rock beats scissors. Scissors beats paper. Camarillo High's Kevin Ball apparently beats them all.

At the 11th annual Jim Parker Ventura County Baseball All-Star Game last Sunday, Westlake High's Zach Miller, coach of the East, decided to determine his starting lineup by games of paper-rock-scissors among his players.

Unfortunately for the East team, Miller had no way of keeping Ball out of the West lineup. Ball's good pitching and timely hitting helped the West squad pull out a 7-4 victory in the game at Conejo Creek Park South in Thousand Oaks.

After the West took a 5-4 lead in the top half of the seventh, Ball earned the win by pitching two scoreless innings. The senior right-hander struck out two batters while only giving up two hits.

Ball was also a force at the plate. In the top of the ninth, the Scorpion doubled off the wall in center field, driving home his Camarillo teammate Nathan Johnson and giving the West a 7-4 lead.

"Being up 1-0 in the count, I was just looking for a fastball," Ball said. "Luckily I got one up in the strike zone, and I was able to drive it to deep center field.

"As far as my pitching goes, my change-up really worked well for me today. I was able to get a few strikeouts with it."

The West All-Stars included players from Camarillo, Santa Clara and Rio Mesa high schools, while the East featured seniors from Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Oak Park, Fillmore, Royal, Calabasas, Grace Brethren and Moorpark high schools.

Although Miller's paperrock-scissors tactic came up just short for the East, the West team caught on to it as well, especially in the bottom half of the sixth inning, when Santa Clara's David Ortiz and Rio Mesa's Joe Ramirez raced out side-by-side to play right field. Once in the outfield, Ramirez won a quick game of paper-rock-scissors and sent Ortiz back to the dugout.

"In an All-Star game like this one, the pressure is off, and you just want the kids to come out and play," Miller said. "Obviously it's nice to have all these guys on your team, but how are you supposed to go out and tell one All-Star that he isn't better than another? I just decided that paper-rock-scissors was the only way."

The West got off to a fast start when leadoff batter Casey Serna, from St. Bonaventure, singled to center in the top half of the first inning. Serna stole second and later in the inning plated the West's first run when Buena's Stuart Smith hit a sacrifice fly to center.

It didn't take long for the East to come back. Moorpark's Dewey Grattan, who won the home run hitting contest earlier in the day with eight roundtrippers, ripped Serna's first pitch in the bottom half of the first over the right field fence for a solo blast to tie the game at one.

"After winning the home run derby I was kind of expecting a change-up," Grattan said. "I was surprised when I actually got a fastball. I felt like I was in a groove from earlier in the day. My swing felt nice and fluid, and I was able to once again hit the fastball over the fence."

With the score still 1-1 in the top half of the third inning, Camarillo's Bryan Willson doubled to left to bring home two more runs for the West. Willson had a big day by going 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and two RBI.

The East tied the game once again, however, in the bottom half of the fourth when a single by Moorpark's Michael Moris was followed by a two-run home run to center by Mike Vinyard of Royal.

Vinyard's Highlander teammate, Tanner Peters, gave the East a 4-3 lead in the bottom half of the fifth inning when he beat out an infield single that scored Ryan Jensen from Oak Park.

For a while, it looked as if the four runs might be enough for the East, as Westlake pitcher Ryan De Jesus pitched brilliantly in the fifth and sixth innings. De Jesus struck out the side in the fifth and only allowed one hit in his two innings of work.

De Jesus left in the seventh inning, however, and the West finally showed some offensive life when Ball scored the tying run on a single to right by Oxnard's Mario Landeros. The West took a 5-4 lead moments later when Smith drove in his second run of the game, this time on a single to right field.

The West scored two more insurance runs in the ninth before Oxnard's Kevin Newburg pitched for the first time in his career to earn the save.

Miller said it was particularly exciting to coach some players outside of the Marmonte League that he doesn't see every day during the regular season.

"The two players we had from Grace Brethren (Ben Burg and Brett Hockenberry) were real fun to watch," Miller said. "They work just as hard as anyone in our league. They represented themselves and their school very well."