The term, a trendy one in the ever-evolving elocution of baseball, is "pitching to contact."

It means letting the fielders do the work, not being afraid to throw in the strike zone instead of forever nibbling at the corners and piling up walks and strikeouts in significant numbers.

To watch Jon Erb on Tuesday was to see the concept in action.

In pitching Camarillo to a 6-0 win over Oxnard, and a place in Thursday's CIF-Southern Section Division II championship game, Erb threw a 10-hit shutout yes, you read that correctly in no small part because he pitched to contact.

Yes, he gave up 10 hits. But he was able to go the distance, in a 111-pitch performance, in part because he didn't walk a batter, though he did hit one.

"He got a couple key strikeouts during the game," said coach Richard Jaquez. "Probably not many" five, as it turned out "but he got out of jams. That's a veteran senior for you right there."

Three of the strikeouts ended innings. Four came when Oxnard had runners in scoring position.

Strikeouts weren't the biggest part of Erb's game, though, because of that pitch-to-contact approach. Nine times he retired a batter in three pitches or less.

"We didn't want to walk anyone," said Erb, who improved to 10-0. "So we just wanted to establish the first strike and let the defense make plays, which it did the entire game."

It did indeed, playing errorless ball. That's a big part of being able to pitch to contact.

"We have a great defense," said catcher Mike Yingling, "so Erb, he trusts everybody on the team. He trusts everybody out there, and that was huge."

On the flip side of Erb's ability to get some outs quickly was his ability to dodge trouble when Oxnard worked him into deeper counts. Six times he faced a three-ball count. Only once, when Mario Landeros singled in the sixth, did one of those batters reach base. The other five times ended with one strikeout, three ground-ball outs and a game-ending double-play line drive back to Erb.

"He was on with all his stuff his fastball, his curveball, changeup, slider," said Yingling. "We were throwing 3-2 sliders, 3-2 changeups anything to get these guys out."

That may have been made possible by Erb's command, but it was, to a degree, made necessary by the familiarity of the two teams. This was the fourth Camarillo-Oxnard game this season and the third time Erb had pitched. Usually, at playoff time, batters have to rely on scouting reports. In this case, they were working off first-hand knowledge.

"As much as they know me as a pitcher, I know them as hitters," said Erb. "I'm not saying I was dominating or anything, but I knew what I had to do to get them out. They got a lot of hits, but we got some big outs. It makes a little bit of difference, but you've still got to pitch."

That little bit of difference did mean Erb was trying to throw pitches at different spots in the count than he normally would "a lot of breaking balls, a lot of inside fastballs" and those choices ended up working pretty well.

Oxnard batters finished 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, stranding runners at second or third in five straight innings beginning with the second.

"They're a good hitting team," said Erb. "They just couldn't get the big hits, I guess."

Camarillo had enough of them and a bunch of big outs, too, considering the way Jacob Mahan drove in three runs with grounders to first to back Erb's performance and send the Scorpions on to Dodger Stadium for the championship game. It's the longest trip they'll have made in these playoffs, and the most anticipated.

"Me and Jonathan, we've been looking at this since we were little kids," said Yingling. "It's been our dream. It means a lot. It's very special for us."

Said Erb: "It's something that a lot of us dream about as a kid, (after) watching the 2002 team play at Angel Stadium." (That Scorpions team beat Lakewood 8-1 in the title game.) "It's a great feeling right now. We're on a high, definitely."

In going the distance, Erb didn't just boost Camarillo into the final, but also set the Scorpions up in ideal fashion. Title-game starter Garrett Rau will go to the mound Thursday on full rest.

"We've got him ready to go," said Jaquez, "and we feel good about that."

So does Erb, who has plenty to feel good about after Tuesday's performance.

"Garrett's going to do a great job on Thursday, and I did not want to let him get into the game and tire himself out and have one day of rest.

"And I wanted to be on the mound for the last out, too."

He was, and was immediately buried in a pile of teammates.

That, too, is a form of pitching to contact. That one is only possible this time of year.

Contact Star columnist David Lassen at dlassen@Venturacountystar.com.