Big League team's pitching depth could lead to another world title
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

Conejo Valley's dream team is fully stocked and ready to go.

Fielding a roster loaded with some of the finest 16 to 18yearold baseball players in the area, the Thousand Oaks Big League AllStars opened the Western Regional Tournament Thursday in Bremerton, Wash., against Oregon.

The nineteam doubleelimination tournament concludes on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the Big League World Series in Easley, S.C., beginning July 28.

Thousand Oaks is the defending Big League World Series champion, having defeated Puerto Rico 10-0 in last year's title game.

Before T.O. can defend its world championship in South Carolina, head coach Ed Kitchen says his squad will face a tough challenge trying to advance past the regional round in Washington.

"Hawaii always gives us a major battle, and the Northern California team can be tough, too," said Kitchen, who's won all six of his previous trips to a Western Regional with Thousand Oaks Little League.

"There also might be a surprise team that we don't know about yet."

After being granted byes in both the district and sectional rounds, T.O. won the Southern California Tournament with a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim All-Stars Sunday in Bellflower. It was the fourth time in five years that Thousand Oaks beat Anaheim for the SoCal title.

Zach Thornton, an Oak Park High graduate and current Ventura College pitcher, got the clinching win for Thousand Oaks. Earlier in the tournament, Thornton had pitched a complete game onehitter against Anaheim.

Thornton heads a pitching staff that includes standouts Matt Bywater (Thousand Oaks), Garrett Rau (Camarillo), Tyler Peddicord (Thousand Oaks), Andres Ceja (Moorpark), Anthony Montenegro (Newbury Park) and Jake Fiss (Westlake).

Bywater was this season's Ventura County Pitcher of the Year and will play for Pepperdine. He and Rau, who's headed to Ventura College, were both named to the 2007 All-State First Team by CalHiSports.com.

Because of a finger injury, Rau didn't pitch in the Southern California Tournament. Kitchen said he's since been cleared to return to the mound.

Peddicord, Ceja and Montenegro will all attend Moorpark College, as will teammates Mike Schwartz (Newbury Park) and Collin Lavoie (Thousand Oaks). Fiss will be a sophomore at Moorpark College in the fall.

Schwartz, a catcher/third baseman who led the Marmonte League in RBI this season, said Thousand Oaks' deep pitching staff is the ultimate asset in a winorgohome tournament.

"Our lineup is pretty stacked," Schwartz said. "But our pitching is what's going to help us take (the world championship) again."

Although there have been a lot of substitutions during each game, Westlake graduate Stephen Notaro has seen the bulk of the catching duties for T.O. Jason Barmasse (Westlake) is playing third base, with Lavoie and Rau splitting time at shortstop. Lavoie has also worked in the outfield.

Brett Fick (Newbury Park) has played second base, with Ben Yarin (Agoura) working first. Kyle Jones (Thousand Oaks) and Ty Muller (Oak Park) have played primarily in the outfield.

An ankle injury limited Schwartz to a designated-hitter role for much of the previous tournament.

Seven current players were on last year's world championship squad. In 2003 and 2005, Thousand Oaks finished as runners-up in South Carolina. T.O. has never lost a regional tournament.

Kitchen said this year's group is on a mission to repeat as Big League World Series champions, a goal that can't be achieved if they don't survive in Washington.

"We've explained to the team that the hardest thing to do in sports is repeating," Kitchen said. "You'll usually find that other teams are going to come after you, and that makes it difficult. . . .

"We want to win one prize at a time and not think about the big prize too much right now."