El Camino Real Running Over Rivals

El Camino Real High is using a steamroller on its drive to a sixth consecutive West Valley League championship.

The Conquistadores (14-2) have outscored Northwest Valley Conference opponents, 85-0, after a 31-0 rout of Birmingham on Monday.

El Camino Real, ranked No. 7 in the region by The Times, has outscored opponents, 160-6, in 16 games.

Almost every El Camino Real game in the last three weeks has been stopped after five innings because of the mercy rule, but the Conquistadores don’t figure to blow anyone out in the Thousand Oaks tournament, which begins Saturday.

The Conquistadores will open against traditional powerhouse Camarillo and junior right-hander Kathryn Nevard, one of the toughest pitchers in the region.

“We welcome the challenge,” Coach Neils Ludlow of El Camino Real said. “We feel like we can play at an even level with the best teams around. This will be good for us.”

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Jodie Cox of Quartz Hill needs three home runs to tie the Southern Section career record of 28, set by Jenny Dalton of Glendale from 1990-92.

“It’s neat to think about,” said Cox, who leads the region this season with eight home runs.

“[The record] may be in the back of my mind, but I don’t go up to the plate thinking about hitting home runs. They just happen.”

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Paraclete got its wish for a rematch Saturday in the semifinals of the Desert Diamond Classic. La Reina did not.

Paraclete will play Notre Dame in one semifinal, a rematch of an April 9 nonleague doubleheader swept by Notre Dame, 1-0 and 4-3.

“The girls are excited about the chance,” Coach Margaret Neill of Paraclete said.

La Reina was hoping for a showdown with rival Oak Park, which upset the Regents two weeks ago in a Tri-Valley League game.

However, San Fernando upset Oak Park, 3-0, in the quarterfinals, forcing La Reina and Oak Park to wait until next week for the rematch in league play.

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You wouldn’t think having a slugging star would be a curse, but that’s what Coach Pete Ackermann of Newbury Park calls it.

When a player is as good as Oli Keohohou of Newbury Park, teammates have a tendency to sit back and wait for their star to shine. Sort of like the St. Louis Cardinals sitting around waiting for Mark McGwire’s next at-bat, Ackermann said.

“I know I sit back and marvel at what the kid can do,” Ackermann said. “She’s on her game, we’re not.”

Keohohou, a leadoff batter, leads the No. 5-ranked Panthers in every offensive category. She is batting .509 with 19 runs and 17 runs batted in. Eleven of her 29 hits have gone for extra bases.

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The Mission League has undergone a field make-over in the 1990s. Notre Dame is the latest to get a new look.

The Knights are scheduled to play their first game at Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park diamond No. 5 today, when they host Harvard-Westlake.

The school spent $6,400 on fencing around the facility, and the City of Los Angeles added a new infield, outfield, as well as concrete and benches.

The field was set to open a few weeks ago, but the grass had not adequately grown in.

“Finally,” senior shortstop Patricia Wetzel said. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to play on it.”

In recent years, Chaminade has developed a top facility at its middle school campus in Chatsworth, and Harvard-Westlake has refurbished and taken over a practice field at Valley College.

Earlier this season, Alemany unveiled its new on-campus field, on the site of the former Queen of Angels seminary.

Flintridge Sacred Heart plans to open a field on campus next season.

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Montclair Prep is 6-8, but the Mounties accomplished a rarity last week by making their first triple play in at least 15 years.

Notre Dame had the bases loaded with none out when pitcher Marissa Brassfield of Montclair Park struck out a batter.

Confusion ensued and the Mounties eventually tagged out all three baserunners. Too bad the fourth out couldn’t have been credited to future innings.

“We figured we’d tag everybody and let the umpires sort it out,” co-Coach Greg Reece of Montclair Prep said.

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Someone must be looking out for Coach Mike Monzo of Cornerstone Christian.

About the time Monzo realized catcher Sarena Aguilera was more seriously injured than first thought, transfer T.J. Teverbaugh showed up ready to fill Aguilera’s shin guards.

“The first day she was there, I was so happy,” said Monzo, who guided the Eagles to the Southern Section Division VI title last year.

Teverbaugh, a freshman who transferred from Thousand Oaks after the start of the season, has contributed with her bat and defensively. She has yet to allow a stolen base.

With Teverbaugh filling in so admirably, Monzo doesn’t want to rush Aguilera’s rehabilitation.

“We need her in the playoffs, I don’t need her in [Condor League play],” he said.

Aguilera injured her back while jumping from a boat in October, but she wasn’t diagnosed with a spinal injury until March, seven games into the season.

Staff writers Dave Desmond and Paige A. Leech contributed to this notebook.