BASEBALL BEAT: CAMARILLO BULLYING ITS TOURNAMENT FOES.

Byline: Heather Gripp Daily News Staff Writer

Local teams are taking a break from beating up on each other. Many of them are using the opportunity to show their strength at various tournaments.

Camarillo, for example, continues to run up scores with its potent offense at the Santa Barbara tournament before moving on to the Corona Del Mar tournament. The Scorpions, who are hitting over .400 as a team, pounded Dos Pueblos 14-4 Tuesday and followed with an 11-0 win over Santa Barbara the next day.

Senior catcher/pitcher Joe Yingling is leading Camarillo's offensive attack, hitting over .600 with five home runs and 25 RBI through 11 games. Senior shortstop Jay Caligiuri is close behind with a .600 average, four home runs and 25 runs scored.

``Those two are flat carrying us,'' Camarillo coach Scott Cline said. ``We're swinging the bats and hoping the pitching comes around.''

Senior Andy Alstot and junior Geoff Abbott, both 4-0, have been solid on the mound, but the Scorpions are looking to add depth to their rotation.

Cline is hoping the back-to-back tournaments in which his team is playing will allow the defending Marmonte League champions to be at their top form when league play resumes next week.

``With nine games in 10 days, this'll be a good chance for us to try out some other pitchers and see what we can find,'' he said.

``It gives us a chance to see ourselves a little bit. We don't have the pressure of league, and with so games, we can try out several lineups. Hopefully, we can find a lineup we can go with.''So far, Cline is encouraged by what he's seen and expects the Scorpions to remain among the league's top teams.

``It's our title to defend,'' he said. ``It's a strange league and you never know who's going to win. It's just gonna come down to who's hot, who's got the pitching and who's swinging the bats. We have just as good a chance as anyone.''

On the rise: Westlake moved back above the .500 mark with a 16-1 win over Taft High on Tuesday in the Durango Tournament. The Warriors' bats went wild again Wednesday for a 15-8 victory against Bonanza of Las Vegas. Shortstop Scott Dragicevich took his turn leading the Westlake offense with a home run and a triple Wednesday.

Sweet success: Others that have been successful in tournaments this week include Moorpark, which picked up wins over Ventura and Buena on Wednesday at the Santa Barbara tournament; Simi Valley, which defeated San Fernando 9-2 Tuesday in the Kennedy Tournament, and Thousand Oaks, a 3-2 winner over Desert Mountain on Tuesday at the Adidas Invitational. Freshman Scott Nasby earned his first win for Calabasas when the Coyotes defeated Pasadena 4-3 Wednesday in the Pomona tournament.

Makeup madness: Because of all the rainouts in the opening weeks of league play, many teams will have to keep a busy pace even after the tournaments end. ``With all the rainouts, we might have to play three or four games a week for a while,'' Cline said.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) YINGLING

(2) CALIGIURI