Moreno Valley baseball team cruises into CIF semifinals with win over Viewpoint

MORENO VALLEY — Starter Frank Camarillo is imposing enough. It’s possible that reliever Frank Camarillo might be even better.

It looked that way Friday as he fired a dominant four innings of relief against Viewpoint. His effort, paired with an outburst from the bats at the top of the Moreno Valley lineup, and it was a smooth ride for the Vikings to a 10-2 victory in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 quarterfinals Friday.

The top-seeded Vikings (26-3) will play at home Tuesday against Buena in the semifinals. They are seeking their third championship game appearance in six years.

Camarillo watched from first base as starting pitcher Johnny Silva battled through a couple of high pitch-count innings. Silva used five strikeouts to get out with just a run allowed.

By the time Camarillo entered, he was sitting on a 7-1 lead and the Viewpoint lineup appeared overmatched. He allowed three hits and struck out 10 in his four scoreless innings.

“Working out of the bullpen is not his favorite thing,” Moreno Valley coach Brad Allcock said. “That’s on me because it’s my strategy. He’s embraced it and been a real team player and that’s helped us manage his pitch count.”

Camarillo said he is still getting used to the routine of going through his pregame warm-up and then waiting a half-hour or more to hit the mound.

“At the end of the day it’s the same goal, to help my team win,” he said. “He (Silva) is special, too. It’s obviously nice to have another pitcher that has my back.”

Silva was hardly done with his work when he left the mound.

He contributed a monster day at the plate, going 4 for 4, driving in five runs. Hitting fifth in the order, Silva was part of a top five that was 13 for 18 with nine RBIs.

“He’s been doing that all year,” Allcock said. “And he slugs. He doesn’t just hit singles. He goes gap-to-gap and hits a lot of doubles. Today, he was just lights out.”

Silva followed Greg Luna’s two-run single with a run-scoring single in the first and then cleared the bases with a double to make it 7-1 in the second.

“We’re starting to dial in at the plate,” Camarillo said. “We’re reading pitches a little more and being more patient.”