COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS NOTEBOOK: PITCHERS HELP AS COC FINDS GROOVE AFTER SLOW START, COUGARS EMERGE IN CONFERENCE.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

VALENCIA - The pitchers have found the strike zone and the College of the Canyons baseball team has found its wining ways.

After a 1-10 start, the Cougars have rebounded to become contenders in the Western State Conference. They entered Thursday's game against Pierce with a 6-3 conference record and having won eight of the past 11 games. That was good enough to be a game out of first place in the WSC South Division.

``I think the main thing is that our pitchers have been better,'' COC coach Chris Cota said. ``They're throwing strikes. We struggled to do that before.''

Freshman left-hander Jeremy Garstka, who earned the team's first two wins, no longer has to anchor the staff. Sophomore right-hander Simon Arredondo and freshman right-hander Richie Martin have emerged as the new leaders. Martin, who joined the team late after transferring from UC Santa Barbara, took time to adjust but is turning into the commanding pitcher the Cougars envisioned. He improved to 2-0 in conference and lowered his overall ERA to 4.00 with Tuesday's 7-4 victory over Pierce. Martin and sophomore reliever Jason Daily both rank among the WSC's top 10 in ERA.

--Hot hitters: The Cougars baseball team, which next plays Saturday at home against Ventura, has some of the WSC's top hitters. Freshman Adam Rondou entered the week leading the conference with a .591 average during conference play. Sophomore David Decker ranked fourth in the WSC with a .467 average.

Sophomore Francisco Enriquez has a team-high nine home runs overall, but doubles are the area in which he tops the WSC. He has seven during conference.

--Disappointment: COC entered the season with hopes of a fourth consecutive WSC softball championship. Now, the Cougars would be happy to reach .500. Tuesday's 4-3 10-inning loss to Moorpark dropped COC to 10-16 and 4-6 in conference.

The Cougars can't point to any one area as the source of their problem. Nicole Moses, Rian Standley, Carly Caldaronello and Amanda DeFusco are all batting better than .400, and freshman Jennifer McLarty has been one of the WSC's top pitchers. However, at least one part of the team seems to have an off day each game.

``I don't think anybody is very happy,'' COC coach Ray Whitten said. ``Nobody thought that we'd have the record we have when the season began. We shouldn't have the record that we have if we played every game like we played against Palomar. The defense was errorless, everything was at a high level.''

The Cougars lost to Palomar 1-0 last week at the Fresno tournament, but the game against one of the state's top teams wasn't decided until the seventh inning.

--Hard-luck hurler: The Cougars softball team has had two 10-inning losses within the past week. McLarty was the pitcher in both games, pitching every inning against Citrus and Moorpark.

``In both games, she pitched excellent,'' Whitten said. ``We just couldn't get the job done.''

McLarty had three of the Cougars' four WSC wins entering this week. Her 1.69 ERA during conference ranked 10th in the WSC.

--Upcoming: The track and field team has a busy weekend. The Cougars are at the Santa Barbara Easter Relays beginning at 10 a.m. today. On Saturday, COC competes in the Northridge Invitational. ...

The swim team has its final home meet of the season today when the Cougars face WSC power Cuesta at 2:30 p.m. ...

The men's golf team takes a break from WSC competition next week. The Cougars will participate in the Citrus Invitational on Monday, then face Long Beach and Saddleback on Tuesday.