Westminster’s Jackie Mendez Has a Big Hand in Lions’ March to 4-A Title Game : Catching Hitters by Surprise

When Jackie Mendez plays shortstop, Westminster High School softball fans are never reminded of Swan Lake.

But nobody in a tutu, and hardly anybody in a softball uniform, is able to perform Mendez’ maneuvers--such as the rolling catch and throw from her knees that robbed Edison of a run in Tuesday’s 4-A Southern Section semifinal.

Diving is Mendez’ forte, a little technique in body sacrifice that she picked up on the volleyball court and perfected on the dirt of the softball field.

These dives are not swan-like and they feature no water to break the impact of her 5-foot-10 frame. In fact, they are more likely to bring to mind visions of a bomber flaming to earth at terminal velocity.

But when the victims of Mendez’ fielding routinely make that U-turn back to their bench, they are not in the frame of mind to pass judgment on her artistic merit.

The other half of the Lion double-play combination, second baseman Lee Bladow, has seen Mendez make plenty of breathtaking plays, such as another in the Edison playoff game in which the shortstop caught the ball in mid-air, twisted to throw the runner out at first, and crash-landed on her chin.

Even Bladow is compelled by honesty to describe her best friend’s fielding as “not, like, real pretty or anything.” It’s just that the rangy Mendez, who might have made a great basketball center, doesn’t fit the mold of the scale-model, spider-like shortstop.

Mendez admitted, “Sometimes I look . . . uncoordinated. I guess it’s kind of funny to see someone with these long arms and legs out there flopping around on the ground.”

But any momentary lack of grace is misleading. Mendez, a senior, is one of the school’s finest athletes. She has earned 11 varsity letters in soccer, volleyball and softball, attended Southern Section playoffs five times, and recently accepted a scholarship to her San Diego State, to play volleyball.

Her defensive talents in softball, along with the pitching of Debbie DeJohn, has led the Lions into their first Southern Section championship softball game, at 7:30 tonight in Mayfair Park at Lakewood against Sunset League rival Ocean View.

Mendez’ philosophy for subduing baseballs, near and far, is strictly from the-ends-justify-the-means school of thought: “I do it however I can.”

Said Dick Martin, Lion coach: “When she plays ball, she plays it better than most boys.”

Mendez’ initial interest in sports was developed by a neighborhood family who had eight boys.

“We grew up playing football in the street and they always picked me for their team,” Mendez said. “I was never the last one picked. I always wanted to be even with them. I didn’t want to be the ‘little girl.”

She also reflects the influence of her parents, each good high school athletes in Orange County in their day. Her father played baseball at Huntington Beach, and her mother played on the volleyball, basketball, and softball teams at Mater Dei.

Martin said he can’t remember Jackie’s parents and two brothers ever missing a Westminster softball game. In fact, Jackie has probably missed a couple more games than her family this season, although not exactly by her own choosing.

Mendez was given a two-game suspension for questioning her coaches’ decision to remove Bladow from a game due to an error. Mendez acted out of a sense of loyalty, but on a softball team, there are times for defense and times for silence.

“A lot of people don’t know why I did it,” Mendez said. “I’m the only one who knows. She’s my best friend and I’ve heard all her thoughts about how much she wants to go to college (to play softball), and he kept pulling her out (of the game).”

Mendez wasn’t allowed to suit up during the suspension, and she had to watch the game from the sidelines. But she returned with a vow to perform better than ever, and she says her respect for her coaches survived intact.

“I was really upset,” Mendez recalled. “That really hurt to see them out there without me, and to see somebody else at shortstop. But everybody on the team said, ‘just forget it and come back,’ and that really motivated me.

“I’m not a cocky kind of person, but I like to look good. You’re always obliged to try to do well if you’ve built that kind of reputation.

“It’s not that I wanted to show him (Martin), but I wanted to show myself I could do it. And, once I came back, the coaches never brought it up again. It was like it never happened.

“I wondered why they wanted to do that, but I didn’t push it. Two games was enough.”

Martin attributed the episode to “senioritis” and the pressures of college recruiting.

“She’s had her distractions and she’s overcome them,” he said. “When she wants to apply herself, she has more ability than most teams have in all nine players.”

Her teammates welcomed her back. “She’s one in a million,” said outfielder Sandy Martinez. “You can’t find anyone like her.”

Another Lion outfielder, Amy Loomer, who has played softball with Mendez since age 8, said, “We need her a lot at shortstop because there’s not anybody who can play the position as well as Jackie does. She gets us going. I don’t think we would win if she wasn’t here.”

The two-game hiatus, however, may have cost Mendez first-team All-Sunset League honors. She had been on the first team three straight years, but was named to the second-team this season.

Also, she admits that a .174 batting average may have hurt her chances. “We got our stats at the (softball) banquet and when I saw mine, I nearly died,” she said. “.174, that’s not even funny, it’s embarrassing.”

But her diving defense, which she claims is “not as hard as it looks,” more than compensated for her hitting lapse. She enjoys it so much that she has been known to put on a playful leaping, diving exhibition in practice just for the amusement of her teammates.

“When I first learned it in volleyball, I came home with swollen knees and bruises, but now it’s easy,” she said. “Certain techniques I learned combine together to help me in both sports.

“It hurts sometimes, but the joy of getting the ball makes it go away.”

‘Sometimes I look . . . uncoordinated. I guess it’s kind of funny to see someone with these long arms and legs out there flopping around on the ground.’

--Jackie Mendez