Baseball beat

Danger lurks at the bottom of the Thousand Oaks High batting order.

Penciled in way down in the ninth spot of the lineup, Lancer sophomore left fielder Avondre Bollar has been flexing his muscle at the plate in recent weeks.

Bollar, who starred as a defensive back for the TOHS football squad during the fall, entered the week with a teamleading three home runs and .476 batting average.

His biggest blast to date came against Calabasas on April 1, when Bollar hit a gamewinning tworun shot off Coyote reliever Dalton Saberhagen.

Last Friday, Bollar's mammoth opposite-field home run at Royal easily cleared the 365foot mark in right-center field. It was a no-doubter from the moment he extended his powerful arms to connect with a first-pitch fastball.

"I'm more aggressive now, whereas at the beginning of the season I was taking a lot of strikes and working pitchers more," said Bollar after the Lancers dropped a 5-4 heartbreaker against Royal.

"When I see a strike now, I'm swinging at it. I'm not taking as many pitches, and the ball has been going out of the ballpark."

Despite his gaudy offensive numbers, TOHS head coach Jim Stueve said he plans on keeping Bollar in the ninth spot.

"I don't think we're going to move him up because we like his speed at the bottom of the order, almost like a second leadoff hitter," said Stueve, whose Lancers entered Wednesday's showdown against Newbury Park with a 9-6 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Marmonte League play.

"I don't want to put too much pressure on (Bollar) because he's only a sophomore. He's still developing as a player, and he's doing a great job. We want him to keep an even keel and continue to develop his skills."

Bollar's physical tools go beyond his power at the plate. He's also an explosive base runner and has shown solid skills in the outfield, Stueve said.

The sky, as they say, appears to be the limit for this developing Lancer star.

"He's a great kid, and a hard worker with a lot of character," Stueve said. "Every ounce of success he has is not surprising for a kid who works that hard."

Huge win for Westlake

Although the team's pitching staff has been battered at times this season, Westlake put together the Marmonte's biggest upset to date by taking down defending section champion Simi Valley at home last Friday, 7-6.

It was the Pioneers' first league loss of the year.

Junior first baseman Tim Wise had a two-run homer for WHS in the sixth inning to plate the eventual winning run.

The Warriors entered Wednesday's contest against Moorpark with a 4-7 record, 3-3 in league.