THE PITCHERS : Dominating Hurlers Are Hardly Settling for Anything Less Than Perfection

Two weeks ago, on Orange County high school softball fields, eight one-hitters and seven no-hitters, including one perfect game, were pitched. Last week, local softball pitchers had two perfect games among their seven no-hitters.

Two-hitters? Three-hitters? Sorry, can’t count that high.

Pitching has long dominated the sport of softball, but this year is exceptional.

“The best overall group I’ve seen,” Fountain Valley Coach Cary Baker said.

“It’s one of the best years I’ve seen, with the mixture of freshmen and seniors,” Edison Coach Missy Ford said. “There is a great crop of freshmen, and then there are the seniors who have been working their butts off for four years.”

Heading the pitching list is the queen of softball, not only in Orange County but in the United States: Michele Granger of Valencia High School. So far in her senior season, Granger has thrown eight no-hitters, including three perfect games, and has struck out 234 batters in 113 innings. She has a 12-2 record and an 0.06 earned-run average.

“She’s at a level above the others,” Bill Plummer, media director of the Amateur Softball Assn., said. “But then there is a group right below her. Orange County is a hotbed of pitchers.”

Other top county seniors include:

Edison’s Terry Carpenter, who has committed to Fresno State, is 8-3 with a perfect game among her five no-hitters. Carpenter has struck out 203 batters and given up just 13 hits and one earned run in 100 innings. Her ERA is 0.07.

Tiffany Boyd of Woodbridge, who is 12-3 with three no-hitters, including one perfect game. Boyd, who is headed to UCLA, had nine no-hitters last year, helping her team to the Southern Section 2-A title.

Ruby Flores pitched Sunny Hills to the Southern Section 3-A title last year. Flores, who has committed to Cal State Long Beach, has pitched only one game this season because of knee surgery but is expected to return within three weeks.

Then there are the freshmen. Among them, Cheryl Longeway of Kennedy has a 12-3 record, striking out 115 and giving up 6 earned runs in 90 innings, for an 0.46 ERA. Marta Bickert of Trabuco Hills has pitched a two-hitter, a one-hitter and two no-hitters and is averaging close to 10 strikeouts a game. Canyon’s Sara Roberts has a 1.80 ERA. Rae Rice of Fountain Valley is 10-3, with a no-hitter and an 0.29 ERA.

And in between the freshman and senior classes are such pitchers as junior Kelly Cook of Brea-Olinda, who has pitched three no-hitters this season and has a 0.00 ERA, and sophomore Stephanie Smith of Garden Grove who has two no-hitters, a perfect game and an 0.99 ERA.

“There are freshmen and sophomores playing that are making college coaches drool,” Cal State Fullerton Coach Judi Garman said. “There is some incredible talent out, there and they keep getting better at a younger age.”

One of the reasons they are getting better younger is that most start going to outside coaches when they are 12 or 13 years old.

“It’s more and more crucial for pitchers to have a regular outside pitching coach,” Canyon Coach Lance Eddy said.

Pitching coaches, such as Don Sarno of Brea and Ron LeFebvre of Orange, regularly meet with local players for what Woodbridge’s Boyd describes as a tuneup.

“I haven’t gone in 5 1/2 weeks, and I need a pitching lesson,” Boyd said. “I can feel what I’m doing wrong, but pitching school gives me someone else who knows what to do and can fix things I forget or overlook.”

So, with all these pitching coaches around, do the high school coaches tell their pitchers what to do?

“No,” Fountain Valley’s Baker said.

“No,” Edison’s Ford said.

“No,” Sunny Hills’ Cathy Williams said.

“No way,” Valencia’s Debbie Fassel said. “I don’t want to be blamed if anything goes wrong.”

But some coaches think this might be one of the last years for such dominating pitching. If high schools follow colleges’ lead and move the pitching mound to 43 feet from 40 feet, some think younger pitchers will have a harder time.

“It may be more of a hitters’ game,” Sarno said. “Some pitchers won’t be able to get as much movement on the ball.”

Said LeFebvre: “If we have little girls trying to reach 43 feet, we’re going to have more injuries than we’ve ever had. The programs are going to be in trouble.

But coaches agree that pitchers will keep getting younger and Orange County will keep producing the best.

“With the weather, you have year-round competition, and the competition level is very high,” Sarno said. “And there’s more gold at the end of the rainbow now. There are more scholarships available, and there are more opportunities for national competition.”