No. 2 Fullerton Plays Host to Pony Softball Tournament

For followers of Cal State Fullerton’s softball team, it isn’t surprising that the Titans are ranked second in the nation--considering their 27-5 record--heading into the Pony tournament at Fullerton today through Sunday.

But talk to Charis Monroe and you get another story.

“It’s hard to believe that we have that good of a record,” said Monroe, the Titans’ shortstop. “In big games it’s easy to split (doubleheaders), but against weaker teams we have to start taking two.”

From Monroe’s perspective, the Titans have been fortunate this season. But her point of view is a little different than most.

After two years of being named to the Southern Section’s first team at Ocean View High School, Monroe found herself starting on Fullerton’s 1986 College World Series championship team as a freshman shortstop.

She’s used to winning.

But so are the Titans, who have been particularly successful in the Pony tournament, where they have won the championship five of seven years (Cal Poly Pomona won the other two).

Fullerton will start tournament play today at 2 against United States International University and will play again at 6 p.m. against Minnesota. All tournament games will be at the Titan Softball Complex.

In 1987, Fullerton slipped to third in the College World Series. It was a painful year for Monroe, who missed 26 games because of two injuries.

Monroe had arthroscopic surgery to repair her right knee after it was injured in practice. Monroe was covering second and suffered the injury during a collision when a teammate slid hard into the base.

Four days after her return to the lineup, she suffered a broken hand while making a tag at second base.

“At first I thought (the runner) cleated me good,” Monroe said. “But when I took my glove off, my hand was swollen and the bone was sticking up.

“They (the doctors) couldn’t understand why I was so upset about (the hand injury),” Monroe said. “Then I explained that I had just come back from a knee injury.”

And recovering from the hand injury was just as difficult as recovering from the knee injury.

“When I first came back, I couldn’t take ground balls,” Monroe said. “It felt like pins and needles were in my hand and sometimes I would come off the field crying.”

There have been no more tears this year. Monroe has started 31 of the Titans’ 32 games.

“This is the first year--knock on wood--that we have her healthy from Day 1,” Garman said. “She’s having an outstanding year.”

Monroe is batting .301, is second on the team in hits (28) and RBIs (10), and has a fielding percentage of .972.

“She has tremendous range,” Garman said. “She’s as good as anyone in the country.”

One reason for that may be the injuries.

“Being injured has made me want to work harder,” Monroe said. “I don’t have a good grip (on the bat), so I use a batting glove now. I try to be more selective about the pitches I take.”

The biggest difficulty for Monroe this year has been battling fatigue from traveling and tournaments. When Monroe tires, it becomes harder to practice.

“This is a tired part of the year with midterms and a lot of games being played,” Garman said.

“It’s not that you don’t want to be out there, but you know you can’t give 100% because you’re tired.”

The fatigue factor came into play when Fullerton dropped a doubleheader to fourth-ranked Cal State Long Beach on Sunday to fall to fourth place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.

“We need to execute in conference,” Monroe said. “(The NCAA) will take four teams in conference (to the regional playoffs) and if we don’t get it going, we might be that fourth team.”

Monroe would rather finish first in conference as Fullerton has done for the past seven years (five in the Western Collegiate Athletic Assn., before joining the PCAA beginning in the 1986 season).

Garman agrees.

“We haven’t been playing that well this past week,” Garman said. “Each year we seem to have a letdown in March right before the tournament.”

Despite the fatigue and the prospect of playing two games per day through Sunday, Monroe is looking forward to the Pony tournament.

Seven of the 15 tournament teams are ranked in the top 20, and No. 3 Arizona opens the tournament against University of San Francisco at 9 today. Oklahoma State will meet Utah at 10:30, and Fresno State plays Oregon at noon. Oklahoma State and Fresno State are both ranked sixth.