Four were too rough for the San Diego Stars' hitters Friday night.

A quartet of Santa Maria Valley Packers pitchers combined to check the Stars on six hits at Elks Field. Packers second baseman Boomer Blanchard gave his pitchers some help with a three-run home run as the Packers won a non-league game 8-1 at Elks Field.

Packers starting pitcher Paul Tremlin shut out the Stars in three innings of work, and relievers Joe Allison, Chris McNeil and Brian Oliver doused the Stars' offense most of the rest of the way. Allison, who came in to start the fourth inning, got the win.

The Pack improved to 13-4. The Packers and Stars play a double header at Hancock College's John Osborne Field that starts at 1 p.m. today.

Tremlin pitched one-hit ball in his pitching debut at Elks Field.

He said with a chuckle, “This mound is really flat compared to what I've been working on at Hancock and at Cal State Northridge.” Tremlin just completed his freshman year at the latter.

“You have to watch yourself. If you try to get some giddyup on your throws, the ball will stay up on you.”

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The Packers' pitchers have had limited amounts of work. That suits Tremlin fine.

“We've gone three, three, three, and sometimes we'll even go three, three, two and one,” as the Packers' pitching rotation did Friday night, said Tremlin. Allison pitched the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. McNeil pitched the seventh and eighth. Oliver worked a one-hit ninth.

“We play a lot of games this sesaon, up around 60,” said Tremlin. “It's a long season. We're really trying to conserve our arms.”

Blanchard is listed at 5-11, 175-pounds, but the New Iberia, La. native lived up to his name with a three-run bomb over the left field fence that accounted for the last of the Packers' six eighth-inning runs. They led 2-1 when the inning began.

Blanchard, who just completed his sophomore year at LSU-Eunice, said, “I'd been swinging at some bad pitches my previous at-bats. I finally got a good one to hit, and I was able to take advantage of it.”

The Packers had considerably better luck against Stars relief pitcher Robert Stevens' fastball than they did against San Diego starter Ward Minich's curve. Stevens came on to start the bottom eighth, and the Packers roughed him up for all of their six runs that frame.

Kevin Sandberg led the inning off with a double. He scored on an error.

The Packers didn't need any help from then on. Blaine Wilson and Brian Jett hit RBI singles, then came Blanchard's home run.

Minich frustrated the Packers for seven innings before that.

“Their guy had a good curve ball,” said Santa Maria manager Scott Nickason. “Our guys tried to go get it instead of waiting for it.

“We finally made an adjustment late in the game. And our pitching and defense were good.” In fact, the Packers' defense was errorless.

Blanchard said, “All four pitchers threw really well and kept us in the game until we were able to get some more hits.”

Until the eighth, “We had our opportunities,” said Nickason. The Packers just couldn't capitalize on most of them against Minich.

They were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position against him. James Roland was the one guy who delivered. He stroked a double to score Pascual Del Real in the third inning. Del Real had reached second base thanks to a throwing error by Stars third baseman Bryson Lukacik.

Allison and McNeil allowed two hits each. The Stars scored in the sixth when Roddy Scott's single scored Shain Stoner and pulled them within 2-1.

Packers third baseman Dearth Parker nixed another threat that inning when he trapped Mario Knorr off third base. Knorr broke for home on Brian Sos' ground ball, Parker fielded it, then ran at Knorr.

Parker eventually tossed the ball to catcher Jeff Farnham, who tagged Knorr out easily.

Stinky's Bar & Grill sponsored the game, which drew what Packers officials called the team's biggest crowd this year. Stinky's officials said all proceeds from the game would go toward benefiting the upcoming American Cancer Society Relay for Life.

“We loved that crowd,” said Tremlin.

Ashley James, a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo senior and Hodgkin's-Lymphoma survivor, threw out the first pitch. She ran in the Rock ‘N Roll Marathon in San Diego which, according to a release, helped raise 12.5 million dollars for cancer research.

SM Indians 5, Conejo Oaks 2

THOUSAND OAKS - Newly-acquired shortstop Dean Bienzinedos went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the Indians' California Collegiate League victory over the Oaks at Cal Lutheran University.

Justin Hensley and Dane McLaughlin had two hits each in the win for the Indians (9-7), while Jimmy Mittleberger got them off the block in the second inning with a solo homer.

Jason Mitchell held the Oaks at bay with seven innings of five-hit ball, striking out seven and walking none. Chris Eusebio worked the final two innings for his fourth save of the season.

The Indians travel to UCSB today at 5 p.m. for a game against the Santa Barbara Foresters.

June 21, 2008