MOORPARK COLLEGE RAIDERS ARE GOING BACK TO BASICS SLOPPY START FOR SOFTBALL TEAM.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

MOORPARK - The Moorpark College softball team began defense of its Western State Conference title this weekend, and learned that the road to repeat will be a challenging one.

The Raiders finished 1-2 in the Fullerton tournament, which featured some of Southern California's top teams. Moorpark allowed seven unearned runs in an 8-0 loss to Palomar, defeated Mt. San Antonio College 2-1 and made seven errors in a 3-2 loss to Fullerton.

``We didn't even swing the bat (Monday) in practice,'' coach Gil Mendoza said. ``We put the bats away and just worked on defense and fundamentals.''

Moorpark returns just five players from last year's team, not including three lost to ineligibility and outfielder Julie Jensen, who suffered a torn ACL while playing soccer and will miss the entire season.

Selena Lopez returns to lead the outfield and the Raiders have depth in the pitching rotation, but Mendoza has some lineup shuffling to do.

``We have a crowded infield, but a lot of players who can play different positions,'' Mendoza said. ``We have some experience on the mound, which is a big plus.''

Moorpark will be challenged by Cuesta and Hancock in the Northern Division, with College of the Canyons expected to be the class of the Southern Division.

``It's going to be very competitive, but I haven't seen any of the other conference teams,'' Mendoza said. ``We need our pitching to keep us in the game, and we have to play catch.''

--Call to arms: If the Moorpark baseball team is to find significant success this season, it will be because of depth on the mound.

In last weekend's Orange Coast tournament, the Raiders finished 1-2 with a victory over Orange Coast and losses to Saddleback and Mt. San Jacinto, but coach Ken Wagner came away impressed with the team's pitching.

In the team's 12-11 victory over Orange Coast, one of Orange County's top teams, Andrew Corona, Brian Kirby and Tyler Johnson combined in the victory. Corona, who missed last season with an arm injury, has already committed to Tulane, while Kirby (Chaminade High of West Hills) and Johnson (Newbury Park High) give the team some bullpen depth.

On offense, the Raiders will have to make up for the loss of Zach Gordon, who hit 18 home runs last season, and will not have a lot of power.

``We were a good offensive team last season,'' Wagner said. ``This year we are going to have to move the ball around, do some hit and run and bunting, and we are going to start a lot of freshmen.''

The Raiders will compete in this week's Western State Conference tournament, traveling to Pierce on Thursday at 2 p.m., hosting Harbor on Friday and Valley and L.A. City on Saturday.

--Back on top: It was a shakeup week in the Western State Conference men's basketball race, which gave new life to Moorpark.

Moorpark's overtime victory over Oxnard put both teams at 4-2, and Cuesta made it a three-way tie for first place with a stunning loss to previously winless Santa Barbara.

Moorpark has a chance to improve to 6-2 with home games this week against Santa Barbara and Ventura, the Northern Division's two weakest teams, following a big victory over Oxnard.

In the final seconds of regulation, Trevor Lorz missed a 3-pointer, but O.J. Thomas secured the rebound and made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game. The Raiders went on a 5-0 run in overtime and earned a 61-59 victory.

Lorz scored 17 points and Ken Plummer added 11 against Oxnard.

--Slipping away: The Moorpark women's basketball team suffered a significant setback last week. A 97-52 loss to nationally ranked Ventura on Saturday was somewhat expected, but it came three days after a 60-56 loss to Cuesta.

The Raiders are 5-4 in conference, having already lost touch with Ventura (9-0) and Santa Barbara (7-1) and now just a half-game ahead of Cuesta for third place. The Raiders host Hancock today and have a bye Saturday.

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2 photos

Photo: (1) CORONA

(2) WAGNER