Prep Softball Preview : This Season’s Lineup Appears Rich in Pitching

It is the year of the pitcher in Orange County high school softball.

Although the county has consistently turned out fine pitchers, this season’s is a bumper crop. Four of the best are seniors, and already the perfect games, no-hitters and one-hitters are adding up.

In addition to Valencia’s all-everything pitcher, Michele Granger, who set Southern Section and national records for strikeouts and no-hitters last season, three other pitchers are also at the end of their high school careers.

Ruby Flores--who will miss up to five weeks with a knee injury--pitched Sunny Hills to the Southern Section 3-A division championship last season. Tiffany Boyd used her pitching and hitting prowess to help Woodbridge to a share of the 2-A title. And, although Edison lost in the first round of the 3-A playoffs last season, Terry Carpenter seems bent on taking the Chargers further this year; she already has thrown three no-hitters, one a perfect game.

Coaches insist that they would rather have a well-balanced team than one great pitcher. But if the no one can make contact with the ball, who’s complaining?

PITCHING-DOMINATED TEAMS VALENCIA: Granger is a senior this year. She has won a gold medal at the Pan-American Games and pitched her way to junior and senior women’s national championships. But one thing Granger hasn’t done is win a Southern Section title.

Valencia has been stopped at the semifinals the past two years. This year, although pitching is still the team’s undisputed strength, Valencia seems more balanced. Valerie Finley, an All-Southern Section 3-A catcher, is a .300 hitter. Also returning are shortstop Amanda Chadwick and outfielder Christy Valdez.

Granger, who had a national-record 509 strikeouts last season, is still doing what she does best--she has a no-hitter and a one-hitter already this season--but so far the team’s hitting has been a surprise. Valencia has scored 18 runs in its three games. The power is supplied by freshman Rosanna Garcia, who is leading the team in hitting (.667), RBIs, stolen bases and runs scored.

SUNNY HILLS: Last year’s 3-A champion, which went 27-5, lost five players--including its entire infield--to graduation. But returning is Flores, who shared 3-A player of the year honors with Granger. Flores, who was 18-2 last year and gave up a total of four hits and no runs in five playoff games, doesn’t have as much speed as Granger but can dominate a game and gets great movement on the ball.

But Flores learned Wednesday that she has torn cartilage in her left knee, which will require surgery next week. She may be out as long as five weeks, which could be devastating to the team. Sunny Hills has a strong backup pitcher in Amy Huett, who combined with Flores for 15 strikeouts last week against Katella and had 13 strikeouts against Edison this week. But Huett may not be prepared to carry the team while Flores is absent.

Also returning is center fielder-turned-catcher Erin McKenney, who hit .447 in the playoffs and .311 overall last season, but has been out recently with strained ligaments. Outfielder Terry Van Sickle is also back.

EDISON: Carpenter had a good year in 1987, leading Edison to a second-place finish in the Sunset League with a 17-5 record and 265 strikeouts. But Carpenter, now a senior, is on her way to a great year.

She started the season with a bang last week, pitching a perfect game (against Garden Grove), a no-hitter (against St. Paul) and a two-hitter (against St. Joseph), with 54 strikeouts. This week she started out with another no-hitter against Sunny Hills.

If Carpenter keeps it up, better-balanced Ocean View and Fountain Valley will have some serious competition for the league title. Carpenter is joined by four returning starters Jyll Pattinson at catcher, Joelle Issacs at shortstop and Kendra Whisenand at first base.

WOODBRIDGE: Boyd led Woodbridge to a 22-6-1 record and a share of the 2-A championship last year with Laguna Hills. Boyd, who has already committed to UCLA, pitched nine no-hitters, including four in a row, and led the team in hitting (.450), home runs and RBIs.

Key returning starters for the new coach, Kodee Murray, include shortstop Lisa Wehren, third baseman Susan Spring--who hit .331 last year--catcher Kim Johnson, first baseman Charisse Kiino and second baseman Susan Berg. Boyd had surgery in December to move a nerve in her elbow and was tentative in her return, losing the opener to El Toro. But last week, she had 15 strikeouts in a one-hitter against Buena Park and 20 strikeouts in a one-hitter against Millikan.

Woodbridge needs to get its offense on track to support Boyd: The Warriors have just seven hits in five games.

WELL-BALANCED TEAMS KENNEDY: The Fighting Irish have moved from the 4-A to the 3-A and look to have one of the strongest teams in the division. The first-year coach, Sue Hall, who moved to Kennedy from Woodbridge, has 11 players, including nine starters, returning from last year’s team that was 21-9.

Two 1987 All-Southern Section 4-A selections--Laurie Graper at second base and shortstop Missy Gyde--are back, along with junior catcher Kris Vucurevic and senior first baseman Deanna Mayes, a 1986 All-Southern Section player who has accepted a scholarship from the University of Nebraska.

Suzie Berdis will play center field and hit leadoff. Kennedy’s pitching staff is anchored by freshman Cheryl Longeway, who already has pitched a no-hitter against Cypress and a one-hitter against Mater Dei.

OCEAN VIEW: The Seahawks finished fourth in the Sunset League last year and ended the season 16-12 but went to the 4-A playoffs as an at-large team and made it all the way to the semifinals. That late-season momentum should carry over into 1988.

Ocean View lost only two players to graduation, and senior pitcher Cindy Schneller, a three-year starter who had an 0.75 ERA last year, returns.

Last year’s leading hitter, Marla Pickard, and all-league center fielder Jamie Walker are also back, along with first baseman Amy Tucker and shortstop Kim Davis, who sat out last year with an injury. The team has a lot of offense; it had 16 hits against Garden Grove last week.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY: The Barons, who finished 17-10 last year, lack varsity experience but have lots of talent and depth. The key to Fountain Valley’s success is the junior varsity program, which has gone 65-1 in the past three seasons.

Up from last year’s junior varsity team are infielder Kami Bigler and outfielder Paula Estes, both juniors. Returning from last year’s team, which that finished second in the Sunset League but lost in the first round of the playoffs, are infielders Dena Allchin and Sami Sawyer and outfielders Becky Bell, Shannon Harrison and Tina Wey.

Senior pitcher Marnie Sukla is joined by impressive freshman Rae Rice, who is 2-0 this season with 14 strikeouts. Freshman catcher Shannon Dolan had three hits and three RBIs in Fountain Valley’s doubleheader sweep of Villa Park.

BEST OF THE REST CANYON: Coach Lance Eddy thinks his young, well-balanced team will be a surprise. The Comanches missed the playoffs last year, when they were without Eddy, who suffered a heart attack with two weeks left in the season.

They also had to play part of the season without their best hitter (Niki Lewis), their best pitcher (Katie Cramer) and starting catcher (April Lopez).

Newcomers include sophomore third baseman Krissy Kwriazis and freshman pitcher Sara Roberts. Also returning are shortstop Jill Player, who hit .324 last season, and All-Southern Section selection Sherry Panchisin, who hit .340.

BUENA PARK: Pitcher Shannon Akau returns on a team that was 16-12 and made it all the way to the quarterfinals last season. Seven other starters return, including catcher Felicia Benjamin, who led the team in hitting last year. If the team jells, it could give Sunny Hills a run for the Freeway League title.

VILLA PARK: This team’s strength is hitting. Shortstop Suzie Barnett, who set the county record for home runs last season with 10 and hit .396, is back.

Third baseman Gena Gonzales, who hit three home runs, and first baseman Anne Salzman also return. Junior Chris Redman anchors the pitching staff. Junior second baseman Steph Wills is a promising addition from the junior varsity team.

CYPRESS: Last year’s 4-A champion, which went 22-8, graduated most of its starters, including pitcher Nicky Luce.

But returning are second baseman Sandy Buckner, shortstop Karen Kuypers, third baseman Heidi Helm and--most important--catcher Diane Pohl. Pohl hit .297 last season, with one home run, and threw out 9 of 11 trying to steal.