BASEBALL BEAT: T.O. APPEARS TO BE PEAKING AT RIGHT TIME.

Byline: Heather Gripp Daily News Staff Writer

The overflow crowd and celebrating by players after the game provided the look of a playoff contest. Wednesday's game between Thousand Oaks and Westlake was simply a midseason Marmonte League matchup, but the win has the Lancers confident they'll be playing when the postseason arrives.

Thousand Oaks took over sole possession of second place, remaining a half-game behind Royal. The Lancers hit their stride last week when they earned the championship at the Atascadero tournament.

``We've just really been clicking,'' said junior Tracy Goebel, who was named the tournament MVP. ``Our bats are going and the defense and pitching is doing really well. I think the tournament was really a jump start for us.

``Everything's going good right now. We're younger this year, but we've got a lot of talent. Last year we started off real good, then faded. This year, I think we're coming together at the right time.''

Promotions: Sophomores Danny Turock and Jared Weaver joined Simi Valley's varsity team for last week's Chino tournament.

Weaver likely would have pitched in his first Marmonte League game Wednesday, but he didn't attend the game. He was excused to watch his brother, who also earned a promotion. Weaver's older brother Jeff made his major-league debut for the Detroit Tigers as the starting pitcher against Minnesota and picked up a win.

No easy games here: Royal remained undefeated in Marmonte play by beating Moorpark 8-4 on Wednesday, but it took 11 innings.

The Musketeers (2-3 in league) tied the game in the fifth ``and after that it became a big marathon,'' according to Royal coach Dan Maye. ``There were a lot of good defensive plays.''

Casey O'Quinn sparked the Highlanders' four-run 11th by leading off with his second home run of the game.

Russell O'Brian (1-0) earned the win. The junior went the final five innings and didn't show signs of tiring, despite usually being used in short relief. He had five strikeouts, including two in the 11th, and didn't give up a walk the last two innings.

The Highlanders aren't expecting an easy game today, either. Their opponent is a young Simi Valley team that is 5-10 and 1-3 in league after losing to Newbury Park on Wednesday.

``When it's Simi Valley-Royal, you throw the records out,'' Maye said. ``It doesn't matter, anything can happen in those games.''

He recalled one game during a season in which Simi Valley was nationally ranked and Royal failed to make the playoffs. The Highlanders beat the Pioneers that year. ``I don't want to be on the other end of that,'' Maye said.

Big deal: All opponents have to do is look at Nick McKay and the Viewpoint pitching staff becomes a little more feared. The junior left-hander is 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds.

``His size alone makes him intimidating,'' Viewpoint coach Frank Pontello said.

In his first season as a pitcher, McKay had a 2-0 record and an ERA below 1.00 entering Thursday's game at Providence. McKay combines with freshman Bruce Stead and senior John Kogel to form a pitching staff that's made up for a slower-than-expected offensive start and keep the Patriots in first place in the Liberty League.

Bad day: Michael Nickeas was probably wondering what else could go wrong after Wednesday's game. The Westlake catcher thought he had a game-tying home run when he hit a shot to left in the sixth inning. Halfway through his trip around the bases, the umpires ruled it was a foul ball. The bottom half of the inning was delayed when he dropped to the ground with an injury following a pitch that walked in a Thousand Oaks run. To top things off, the Warriors dropped to third place as they saw their winning streak against Thousand Oaks come to an end at five games.

Ups and downs: A sixth-inning home run by Anthony Lizaola helped Calabasas prove a Frontier title is within reach as the Coyotes beat league-leading Nordhoff 3-2 last Friday. A sweep by Rio Mesa in Wednesday's doubleheader confirmed Calabasas (6-8, 3-1) has a way to go to catch nonleague opposition, though.

Rio Mesa's Greg Remirez struck out 11 and walked one for a 5-1 victory in the first game. Randy Curtis provided the Coyotes' run with his second homer of the season. Rio Mesa (13-5) took the second game 6-4.