Notebook /Sean Waters : Pitching Bonds a Win Streak for Buena

Buena High pitchers went from pitching on the wild side to striking out the side in one week’s time.

Matt Anderson recorded 10 strikeouts last Tuesday as the Bulldogs defeated Westchester, 9-2, and Jason Isaacs struck out 15--one short of a school record--in an 8-4 victory last Thursday over Palisades.

Matt Shepherd holds the school record with 16 strikeouts in 1983.

Sammy Arroyo pitched a three-hitter and recorded 13 ground outs to give Buena a 19-5 win Saturday over Loyola. It was the Bulldogs’ third consecutive victory and improved their record to 3-2.

“We have the talent and we were getting the hits,” Buena Coach Stan Hedegard said, alluding to a pair of season-opening losses in which his staff surrendered 15 walks in 14 innings. “But our pitching wasn’t holding up. We just needed to spend less time talking and more time pitching in the (bullpen).”

Buena starts league play Friday at San Marcos.

Back in control: St. Bonaventure pitcher Kevin Zoll has allowed only one unearned run and no walks in 11 innings. Zoll (2-0) posted victories over Santa Paula (9-3) and Santa Clara (4-1). He was selected to the All-Southern Section 1-A Division team as a sophomore.

Going for two: St. Bonaventure (4-0) has made a habit of hitting doubles. Wayne McPhail has five hits--four of them doubles. Chris Gaston has five hits, including three doubles. And Chris Borchard has doubled twice.

“Some teams create runs by playing little ball and bunt a lot,” St. Bonaventure Coach Dennis Johnson said. “We believe in always going for the extra bag. We’re going to be aggressive on the basepaths without being stupid.”

Getting to first base: Santa Paula had 27 hits in its first three games, but 25 were singles. Chris Cole went five for five with three stolen bases and two runs batted in during a 6-5 victory over Bishop Diego.

“We’re still teaching the kids how to run the bases,” Santa Paula Coach Mark Magdaleno said. “It takes us three hits to score one run.”

Santa Paula’s defense has been impressive. The Cardinals have committed only one error in 22 innings.

Getting fouled up: The Santa Clara girls’ basketball team shot an uncharacteristic 26.7% (15 of 56) from the field in the semifinals of the State Division IV playoffs.

But Santa Clara didn’t lose to Wasco, 40-38, because of poor outside shooting. The Saints attempted only 10 free throws, all by center Karry Wagoner.

Best sub-par performance: Coach Brian Marshall was starting to wonder if he was ever going to see another Ventura College golfer shoot 65. It first happened in 1976 when Matt Ellison shot 65 at Sunset Hills Golf Course in Thousand Oaks during Marshall’s first season.

But after Ellison did it 13 years ago, no other Ventura golfer came close to shooting 65.

Marshall’s wait finally ended last week when sophomore John Johnson shot a five-under-par 65 in a Western State Conference match at Simi Hills Golf Course.

Johnson had five birdies on the first nine holes and finished with eight birdies and only one bogey.

“It was truly a phenomenal feat,” Marshall said. “It takes another golfer to understand just how good a score that is. Johnson is a legitimate four-year player and we are fortunate to have him at Ventura.”

Johnson is the third member of his family to play for Marshall. His brothers, Jeff and Jim, both golfed at Ventura before going on to UCLA.

Best for last: Cedric Ceballos, most valuable player in the WSC last season for Ventura, saved one of his best games for last by scoring 31 points and pulling down 16 rebounds in Cal State Fullerton’s 99-83 loss to Nevada Las Vegas in the Big West Conference men’s basketball tournament semifinals last week.

Ceballos, an all-conference selection, averaged 21.2 points to lead the conference and added 8.8 rebounds a game.

Sophomore saviors: The Ventura women’s tennis team lost six of its first seven matches despite the impressive play of sophomores Hadley Rick and Suzanne Woodling.

Rick and Woodling are Ventura’s top singles players and together they form the Pirates’ No. 1 doubles team. They have lost only one doubles match this season and have dropped only three singles matches between them.

Coach Raeann Koerner Smith attributes the strong play of Rick and Woodling to their friendship.

“They move really well as a team and they know each other’s movements on the court,” Smith said. “They can communicate with each other because they are such good friends.”

Attention Trojan fans: The Ventura County, Santa Barbara County and Central Coast USC Trojan clubs are holding a barbecue at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m.

USC football Coach Larry Smith will be guest of honor and several players will be present, including quarterback Rodney Peete, wide receiver Erik Affholter and tackle John Guerrero. Affholter played at Oak Park High and Guerrero at Oxnard High. Smith will analyze the 1989 recruiting class and this year’s team.

Staff writer Ralph Nichols contributed to this notebook.