Summer Sports Notebook / Steve Henson : No One Can Accuse Camarillo of Stealing District 16 Crown

About all they can’t do well is steal. And maybe that’s because their honest efforts have been so successful.

The Camarillo American Legion baseball team lost its first District 16 game of the season Sunday in the opener of a doubleheader against Royal, but won the second game to clinch a tie for the title. A Camarillo win or Westlake loss in the season’s final three games hands Camarillo (16-1 in district play, 22-4 overall) the championship outright.

A glance at district statistical leaders verifies that Camarillo is the dominant team.

Camarillo pitchers have the top four earned-run averages.

Camarillo hitters have the top three batting averages.

Camarillo hitters rank 1, 2, 3 in doubles, rank 1, 2, 4 and 5 in home runs and rank 1, 2, 3, 4 in runs batted in.

The only category Camarillo players don’t rise to the top is stolen bases, where six players rank above the best Camarillo basestealer.

But the Camarillo players needn’t worry about petty thefts because when it comes to District 16, they’ve stole the show.

Going home: Roy Gilmore, former Westlake High basketball coach, has returned at the one school where he would accept a position as a walk-on coach: Ventura High, his alma mater. Gilmore replaces Chris Taylor, who resigned after a 21-6 season to take an administrative postion at the school.

Gilmore, 46, had coached at Westlake for four years, leading the Warriors to the Southern Section final in 1987. He left after that season, either resigning or getting fired, depending on the source. Gilmore said he was fired; Athletic Director Bob Fisher claimed he resigned.

Regardless, Gilmore said he enjoyed his season away from coaching but is anxious to return.

“I got to go skiing for the first time with my family and enjoyed myself. I didn’t spend much time out of the gym, though. I saw a lot of games.

“I’m glad to be back. I don’t want to teach and not coach. Coaching is the No. 1 priority, and coaching at Ventura is something I’ve always wanted to do.”

The old one, two: Paul Stankowski and Jamie Nello took the top two places in the 16-18-year-old division of two recent Ventura County Junior Golf Assn. tournaments.

Stankowski, of Oxnard, won the Ojai City championship at Soule Park Golf Course with a two-day total of 137, three strokes ahead of Nello, a Westlake Village resident who will attend UCLA this fall. Nello captured the Fillmore City title at Elkins Ranch Golf Club with a two-day total of 135, 12 strokes better than second-place Stankowski.

Catching on: Bruce Furuya, who was interim basketball coach at Oxnard College last season, has accepted a position as head coach at Monterey Peninsula College.

Furuya directed Oxnard to a 7-22 record after four years as an assistant under Coach David Carmichael. Remy McCarthy was hired in April as full-time coach at Oxnard.

In addition to coaching, Furuya will be a counselor at Monterey Peninsula.

From teammates to foes: Ed Leger and Colovito Thomas, who both played at Ventura College last season, have signed contracts with the major league teams that drafted them in June. They have been assigned to different teams in the same rookie league.

Leger, a side-arm throwing relief pitcher who was an All-Western State Conference selection, was assigned to the Cleveland Indians’ team in Haines City, Fla., of the Gulf Coast League. Leger, who attended Channel Islands High, was 5-1 with 6 saves and an earned-run average of 2.15.

Thomas, an outfielder who had signed a letter of intent to play at Cal Lutheran, has joined the Atlanta Braves’ affiliate in Bradenton, Fla., also of the Gulf Coast League. Thomas, who attended Santa Clara High, batted .254 last season.

Third helping of seconds: For the third consecutive year, the Ventura-Santa Barbara Sharks girls’ basketball team lost in the final of the Northern California Summer Shootout at Pleasant Valley High in Chico. The Sharks were defeated by the North Coast Express, 75-63, in the All-Star Division.

The Barracudas, the other Ventura-Santa Barbara entry in the All-Star Division, won the consolation title by defeating Northern California, 75-51.

A third Ventura-Santa Barbara team, the Piranhas, finished second in the High School Division after dropping a 49-47 decision to Northern California in the final. The Piranhas, a team of sophomores, defeated Red Bluff, 54-48, and Alameda, 56-39, to advance to the championship game.

The Sharks opened the tournament by defeating the Barracudas, 69-44, then beat Northern California, 73-40, before facing the North Coast Express.

Named to the all-tournament team in the All-Star Division were Kim Gessig and Karry Wagoner of the Sharks and Angela Long of the Barracudas. Anna McConnell, Amy McConnell and Nickie Manzo of the Piranhas were named to the all-tournament team in the High School Division.

Shrine game: Thousand Oaks High Coach Bob Richards last week opened practice for the South team in preparation for the 37th annual Shrine all-star football game. The team is working out at Azusa Pacific College for the annual charity game, which will be played Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Rose Bowl. The North team is practicing at Cal State Northridge.

The South team includes five Ventura County players--running back Marc Monestime and linebacker Mack Humphrey of Thousand Oaks; wide receiver Gil Valencia of Camarillo; defensive lineman Roger Jones of Channel Islands; and tight end Eric Anhalt of Royal.

Valencia-less: Valencia’s Shrine duties will force him to miss six Camarillo American Legion baseball games. Although Camarillo holds a commanding lead in District 16, the loss of Valencia, who is batting .489, has been felt.

“Losing Gil definitely hurt, not only at the plate but in terms of leadership,” Coach Rich Herrera said.

Valencia will return in time for the regional playoffs, which begin July 30.

Red carpet: Newbury Park’s Chris Kilbane, Rio Mesa’s Robby Cook and 10 other Southern California wrestlers left Monday on the first leg of a three-week tour of the Soviet Union and the Netherlands as part of a cultural and wrestling exchange.

The wrestlers spent three days in Washington, D.C. for training and orientation before departing Wednesday for Moscow.

Kilbane was the Southern Section 4-A Division champion in the 165-pound class with a 35-3 record, and was named the MVP of the L. A. Games. Cook, 46-8, finished second in the 3-A at 129 pounds. Channel Islands’ M. T. Merickel, an L. A. Games champion at 135 pounds, was also selected to the team.

Plan for football: Tickets for 1988 Cal Lutheran home football games are available. The Kingsmen play five home games, three against teams that were ranked in the Division II top 10 last season.

The season-opener against Sonoma State is a home game, Sept. 10 at 2 p.m. UC Santa Barbara visits Cal Lutheran on Oct. 2 and Cal State Northridge, a traditional Kingsmen rival and nationally ranked team, visits Oct. 8 in a Western Football Conference game. Homecoming is Oct. 22 against Santa Clara, another WFC team that was ranked last season, and Nov. 5 the Kingsmen play host to Portland State, the Division II runner-up and defending WFC champion.

General admission season tickets are $25. Reserved seats for the five games are $35, club level season tickets are $40 and president’s box season tickets are $50.

Information: (805) 492-2411.

New coach: George Kuntz, 28, has been hired as soccer coach at Cal Lutheran. Kuntz played at Westmont College and is a coach in the U. S. Soccer Federation’s Olympic development program. He replaces Tim Taylor, who resigned in March.

Mohr coaches: Margaret Mohr, former La Reina High and Cal State Long Beach basketball standout, has been hired as an assistant basketball coach at Santa Clara.

Mohr’s brother, Larry, is an assistant football coach at Thousand Oaks High and her sister, Cathy, is the women’s basketball coach at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo.