AMERICAN LEGION; ARM-RICH T.O. HAS EYE ON DISTRICT TITLE.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

Chris Cordeiro is more likely to play infield than pitch. Tracy Goebel probably won't even be at the game.

The Thousand Oaks American Legion team hasn't had to use its top two pitchers much to win this summer. T.O. has just one loss. It hopes to continue the trend today when it opens the District 16 American League playoffs as the No. 1 seed at home against Simi Valley Royal.

The winner of the best-of-three series advances to the district final Sunday against the Westlake-Camarillo winner.

While Cordeiro and Goebel rest their arms and balance commitments with other teams, pitching has remained Thousand Oaks' strength.

Senior right-hander Greg Simonetti is showing he could be a valuable part of the Lancers quest to repeat as Marmonte League champions next year.

``He's up at that level,'' said T.O. coach Legion coach Joey Garcia, who also coached Simonetti on the junior varsity high school team this year. ``He's doing the job.''

Simonetti went 10-2 for the JV and is undefeated in Legion play. Brent Schilhab and Chris Austin add depth to the rotation that still includes Cordeiro and Goebel.

``They're going to be one of the best teams in the state next year,'' said Camarillo coach Roger Frash, whose team lost 8-2 to Thousand Oaks on Sunday. ``They just keep throwing guys at you.''

T.O. takes on a Royal (16-6) team that is full of uncertainties.

Coach Ron Ross left for vacation this week, leaving Royal varsity coach Dan Maye to try to figure out who will take over as coach. He was also busy calling players to see whether there would be enough to field a team. Some of the players are on vacation, one is in Hawaii playing water polo, another began training for football and Brian Lipman has a game with another team.

``We're gonna have some holes,'' Maye said. ``All of the pitchers are filling in in the other places. If we win some games, great. If we don't, we're not going to be heartbroken.''

Third-seeded Camarillo's primary concern isn't winning, either.

``Our big picture was just making the playoffs,'' Frash said. ``We saw we could be on the same field as them. That's what we wanted.''

Camarillo (14-10) is one of the youngest `B' teams in the district since most of its older players are on the `A' team, which starts Area 6 playoffs Thursday. Camarillo has two incoming seniors, nine juniors, six sophomores and freshman Delmon Young.

Young is making a convincing run to become a varsity starter by batting .434 with three home runs in addition to solid play in the outfield. Davey Komatsu leads Camarillo with a .536 average and a .706 on-base percentage. Jimmy Alstot (5-1) beat Westlake earlier in the season and tries to do so again when he makes the start today.

Westlake (16-8) hopes to save pitchers Jesse Kozlowski and Tyler Adamczyk for Sunday's championship game, believing it can advance behind Matt Palmer, Shane Steele and Joey Guy.

Jamie Hesselgesser and J.J. Smith form a potent combination at the top of the lineup, while Ryan McCarthy, Mike Nickeas, Jeff Dragicevich and Kozlowski are also consistent offensive threats.

Friends and enemies

Five players involved in this week's Legion playoffs are also teammates on the Conejo Valley Little League Big League team. Kozlowski is expected to start for Conejo Valley today while Thousand Oaks infielders Billy Lockin and Adam Leavitt back him up. Goebel and Lipman are also on the team.

The players must choose between the Big League Sectional final today in Lancaster or their Legion games. Most said they would play for the Big League team and then return to their respective Legion teams for the rest of the week.

``It's kind of weird,'' Lockin said. ``We're on the same team and we're playing against each other on the same day.''

New start

J.J. Smith wanted to make sure he didn't have to endure another season on the Westlake bench.

``It was hard for me to stay ready when I wasn't playing all the time,'' Smith said. ``I wanted to play more. I accept it, I got beat out for my position. The other guy that won it deserved it.''

After batting .182 in 11 at-bats as a junior, Smith is spending more than an hour a day on batting practice and playing well enough during Legion competition to remain a regular in the lineup.

``He's come out with a vengeance and shown me he wants to start,'' Westlake coach Chuck Berrington said.

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Photo: Cordeiro