All-Area Softball Player of the Year: Glendale High’s Smiling Sammy swings to success
For four seasons at Glendale High, if Sammy Fabian was taking the field, certain constants were to be found on the softball diamond.
Season after season, the remarkable was a consistent occurrence with mind-spinning numbers, accolades from All-Pacific League to All-American garnered and the Nitros challenging the Pacific League hierarchy and vying for postseason berths.
Known seemingly equally for her blazing speed, ever present smile and statistical splendor with her bat, Fabian truly became the epitome of an all-around threat.
As a senior, Fabian patrolled center field or the middle infield almost flawlessly, she boasted a big bat that added up to 19 extra-base hits, hit a phenomenal .573, stole 21 bases and did not record a strikeout.
On top of that, the Nitros’ final victory with Fabian in the lineup was their first postseason triumph this century.
Thus, Fabian sped, smiled and swung her way to being voted the 2017 All-Area Softball Player of the Year by the writers of the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader and La Cañada Valley Sun.
“It is fun to watch her play,” Nitros coach Chris Funaro says. “She’s the ultimate softball player. She gives everything she’s got and she has fun when she plays.
“I was honored to coach her in her final season. I’m sad to see her go.”
As a senior, Fabian’s final statistics were spectacular.
She boasted a .573 batting average that included 47 hits, eight of them doubles, a tremendous seven triples and two home runs. She added 12 walks versus the aforementioned no strikeouts and swiped 21 bases, creating havoc at the plate and on the bases while playing excellently in center field and at second base and shortstop.
“No matter what, if Sammy was at bat, we knew Sammy’s going to get on base,” Glendale senior Miya Legaspi says. “And if the ball was hit to her, you knew we would get an out.”
Glendale went 15-10 with an 8-6 record in the Pacific League that was just good enough to claim the fourth-place spot in the league and an automatic playoff berth. It was a roller coaster season for the Nitros, but one with a highlight a long time in the making.
“She’s the ultimate softball player,” Nitros coach Chris Funaro says. “She gives everything she’s got and she has fun when she plays.”
On May 16 at Glendale High, the Nitros, having relinquished a sizable lead, rallied with four seventh-inning runs to force extra innings against Carter in a CIF Southern Section Division III wild-card game. Glendale was down again until senior Tiffany Bartamian blasted a game-winning single in the bottom of the eighth with Fabian speeding home for the winning run.
“Just thinking about it gives me chills,” Bartamian says. “We made history, not just for our school, but for ourselves. That was definitely the highlight for the season and for my four years here.”
It was a lasting highlight for Fabian, as well, who will take it with her when she heads to UC Santa Barbara in the fall to begin her days there as a student-athlete.
“It was such an amazing moment,” says Fabian, who had three hits, three runs, two walks and a home run in the game. “Going into the game in our pregame circle, I told everyone that this might be our last game together, so I just want to make sure that we go out and play hard and support each other.
“It was just the craziest game. Everything just came together so perfectly.
“I remember [after the game] I ran up to my mom and said, ‘We finally won.’”
Fabian’s numbers were consistently spectacular from her first day as a Nitro until her last – a 6-3 loss at Los Altos in the first round in which she had two hits and two runs.
She grabbed acclaim from here to there when she began her brilliant career with a 61-game hitting streak, garnering All-Pacific League and All-Area awards each season with added honors of All-CIF, Cal-High Sports All-State and Maxpreps All-American, among others.
But as Fabian’s senior season dawned, it was one in which she would have to take on a new role of leadership. Though her talent had more than spoken for itself and grabbed acclaim, pitcher Jordan Lousararian and shortstop Alex Howard, who Fabian had played with since their successful days as District 16 All-Stars, had graduated.
“Through the first three years of high school, I kind of established that I was a leader by example, I wasn’t really very vocal,” Fabian says. “When they left, it was kind of a wake-up call. I really have to step it up and encourage the girls and teach them.”
In the offseason, Fabian admits there were doubts and there were questions about leadership. But Bartamian and Fabian “clicked” as captains.
“I did surprise myself,” Fabian says. “I really wasn’t expecting it to be as enjoyable as it was this last year. It was really great.”
Whether by example as the lead-off batter extraordinaire or vocally in the field and clubhouse, Fabian led the way.
“I would describe her as the person everyone looks up to,” Legaspi says. “She’s always calm; she always knows what to do. On the field, she has the perfect balance of having fun and playing hard.”
In addition to the graduation of Howard, Lousararian and others, Funaro also took over for Greg Martin as coach.
With so many changes and questions, the expectations were made rather simple.
“Our main goal was to just have fun and make the playoffs,” Bartamian says.
Fabian’s work ethic is well-regarded by her coaches and teammates. But having fun playing softball is just as well-known as an ear-to-ear grin that never seems to diminish.
“I always have a great time when I play,” Fabian says. “It was really what was instilled in me from a very young age.
“I just want to go out there and have fun. When I’m on the field, everything else is not important.”
And Fabian’s attitude and play was contagious.
“I feel like she’s always been a leader on the team. I feel like Sammy was always correcting us if we did something wrong. She was always encouraging us. She’s a positive person; not only on the field, but off,” junior Esme Piedra says. “She’s very passionate about softball and she’s very determined.”
Adds Legaspi: “She’s always smiling and laughing. It rubs off on everyone else.”
For four seasons, Fabian piled up huge numbers and overwhelming accolades. Her ability to hit and create chaos with her fleet feet gave the opposition fits and built a name for her beyond the Jewel City or the area and even beyond the state of California.
But Fabian’s senior season was different. It was one with a lasting highlight in the form of a postseason win that Glendale softball had longed to garner. It was one in which a wide smile seemed to be as crucial to Nitros success as all those superb numbers. And it was one in which Fabian further solidified herself as an All-American talent, but added to it the role of charismatic captain.
“She’s just the all-around player. She’s coachable; she listens to all her coaches. She gives 110%; she works really hard,” Bartamian says. “She’s just the all-around softball player and the leader Glendale needed this year.”
