Stedman, 5 Other County Players Chosen for Pan-American Team

Five players with Orange County connections--in addition to Michele Granger, the Valencia High School pitcher--have been named to the U.S. softball team that will compete in the Pan-American Games Aug. 4-19 in Indianapolis.

Catherine Stedman, the shortstop for Southern Section 3-A champion Sunny Hills High School, is a surprise member of the team, making it as one of two coaches’ choices. She and Granger are only the second and third 17-year-olds ever to make the U.S. Pan-American softball team. (Dot Richardson, a star shortstop at UCLA from 1981-83, and also a member of this Pan-American team, was the first.)

Stedman, who batted .413 this season with a .964 fielding average, will play for 1987 NCAA softball champion Texas A&M; next year.

The other county players who made the 18-member team are Lisa Baker, senior third baseman for Cal State Fullerton this season; third baseman JoAnn Ferrieri, a member of the 1986 NCAA champion Fullerton team who now coaches at Tustin High School; Liz Mizera, a 1984 graduate of Pacifica and a first-team All-American at shortstop for NCAA champion Texas A&M; this season, and catcher Donna McElrae, who played for Fullerton in 1984 and now lives in Tustin.

In addition to Richardson, another former UCLA player made the team--infielder Sheila Cornell, who graduated in 1985 and was a member of the 1983 Pan-American team.

Three players from Cal Poly Pomona made the team: pitcher Rhonda Wheatley, a 1987 graduate who holds the NCAA record for career victories (134); outfielder Alison Stowell, also a senior on this year’s team, and Suzy Brazney, a catcher who graduated in 1983 and played on the 1983 Pan-American team.

Kathy Van Wyk, a pitcher who played at Fullerton and was an assistant coach there this season, was named as one of eight alternates.

Other members of the team, which will be coached by Carol Spanks of Cal Poly Pomona, are: Annette Ausseresses, Salt Lake City; Liz O’Connor, Madison, N.J.; Vickie Morrow, Pontiac, Mich.; Josie Carter, College Station, Tex.; Susie Gaw, Phoenix, Ariz.; Kathy Escarcega, El Centro, and Ella Vilcag, Fresno.