Poised and Pitching at the Pressure Point : Following Silverman May Be a Headache but Iwafuchi Has Kept the Streak Alive

Jodi Iwafuchi started getting headaches right around playoff time. The pressure got to her. A season of controversy and tribulations finally took its toll.

Iwafuchi began the season as batting-practice pitcher for the powerhouse El Camino Real High softball team. The 16-year-old sophomore had little game experience and didn’t expect to get much more until next year.

But several weeks into the season the team mutinied against starting pitching star Beth Silverman, who was rumored to be as ruthless with teammates as she was with opposing batters.

Silverman was asked to leave but still Iwafuchi, the team’s third-string pitcher, had to wait her turn. Silverman’s sister, Teri, a freshman, inherited the pitching load for El Camino Real, but after three starts she quit the team.

Suddenly, Iwafuchi found herself at the helm of the El Camino Real juggernaut, responsible for guiding a team that owned four straight City titles and a 56-game winning streak.

Today, she will lead the Conquistadores against Sylmar in the City Section 4-A final at Cal State Northridge. She has extended the streak to 73 games and, at 14-0, has pitched better than anyone expected. El Camino Real (18-0), winner of the West Valley League, is favored to capture its fifth consecutive championship.

But the recent headaches and bouts with nerves suggest that this season hasn’t been easy on the soft-spoken Iwafuchi.

“I never thought I was going to pitch this year,” she said after practice this week. “It’s just a lot of pressure. I try not to think about it too much.”

No matter how El Camino Real fares today, the story of this team and its pitcher is the story of a group of young women who had to pull together to survive a difficult season. Perhaps more so than at any time during the streak, winning has become a team effort for the Conquistadores.

It has worked out that way because the team decided that enjoying the game was more important than winning. That decision forced Silverman off the squad, and the Conquistadores have paid for it.

Silverman, a junior, had amassed a 35-0 record over 2 1/2 years at El Camino Real and was one of the state’s most dominanting pitchers. But her attitude and work habits angered teammates, second baseman Stacy Trapp said.

There was jealousy involved, too. Some El Camino Real players believed that Silverman got too much credit for the team’s success.

“We thought we were giving just as much to the team as Beth,” said Darci Stehlik, a senior. “Last year there should have been more credit to the whole team. Now we give credit where credit is due.”

The dissension came to a head on March 11. During a nonleague game at Newbury Park, Silverman reportedly cursed at a teammate. The team called a postgame meeting, but Silverman did not attend. The next day, a majority of the players threatened to quit if she were allowed to remain on the squad. El Camino Real Coach Neils Ludlow put Silverman on a “leave of absence” and 15 days later dismissed her from the team.

By forcing Silverman out, the players realized they jeopardized El Camino Real’s winning streak.

“To be honest, I didn’t know how far we’d get this season,” Stehlik said. “It was a chance we took. We were more concerned with having a good time and playing than with the streak.”

The weight of this risky decision fell squarely on the slender shoulders of Iwafuchi.

Iwafuchi doesn’t say much about this pressure, or the headaches it has brought. During an interview, she didn’t say much about anything. Apparently, she is given to suffering in silence.

“I worry about everything,” she allowed, at one point, but did not elaborate.

Two things have contributed to the team’s subsequent success. First, Iwafuchi has responded to the call.

On March 16, she pitched a 6-3 win over Chatsworth in her first start and, a month later, improved her record to 5-0 with a shutout against Birmingham. On April 29, Iwafuchi pitched her first no-hitter, beating Canoga Park, 9-0. She finished the regular season unbeaten with a 9-1 win over Taft.

The headaches slowed her in the playoffs. Against Chatsworth in the quarterfinals, Iwafuchi allowed a season-high eight hits while escaping with a 3-2 victory. But last week, she threw a two-hit shutout against San Pedro to lead the Conquistadores into their fifth straight title game.

“We weren’t sure how she would do in some real tough game situations,” Ludlow said. “She was the only pitcher we had and she responded very well.”

El Camino Real has relied just as heavily on the play of the defense behind Iwafuchi--and that is what sets this year’s team apart from past winners. The Conquistadores have traditionally had dominating pitchers . . . and little need for defense.

This season’s squad has such fielding prowess that El Camino Real might win with anyone pitching. The veteran players, accustomed to watching Silverman throw no-hitters, have enjoyed playing in games where the ball gets hit to them more often.

“You get more action,” Stehlik said. “It’s a lot more fun.”

Said Ludlow: “Jodi’s not an overpowering pitcher. I think the kids know that because we don’t have the kind of pitching we had before, they have to pick up the slack.”

Iwafuchi said the play and attitude of her teammates has been a comfort.

“Everybody wanted to win even more and everybody really helped,” she said. “If the ball gets hit, I don’t have to worry about them making the play. It helps having a good defense behind me.”

This team concept, players say, was missing in prior years. And it is this spirit that has made losing Silverman, and risking the winning streak, pay off.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs,” Stehlik said. “But we’ve had a good time and we’ve become a closer team. It means more to us.”

Iwafuchi, in her quiet way, may be the least enthusiastic member of the team.

“It’s been a lot of hard work,” she said. “It’ll be fun when we win it.”

After today, Iwafuchi said, she will spend some time trying to relax and forget about softball. There are final exams to worry about.