1988 ALL-COUNTY SOFTBALL TEAM : PLAYER OF THE YEAR : TIFFANY BOYD : Pitcher, Woodbridge : After a Successful Arm Operation, She Surpassed Her Previous Form

After Woodbridge High School tied Laguna Hills for last year’s Southern Section 2-A softball championship, Woodbridge pitcher Tiffany Boyd set two goals for herself.

One was to win the 2-A title outright. No more of this sharing business.

The other was even loftier. To finish the season without giving up an earned run.

But such dreams of perfection seemed very much in jeopardy just six months ago.

In October, Boyd started suffering from spasms and sharp pain in her right arm whenever she tried to pitch.

Doctors first diagnosed the condition as tendinitis, but after weeks of treatment, the pain persisted. In December, the problem was determined to be damage to a nerve that had become trapped in Boyd’s arm muscle. Doctors thought the injury may have occurred during Boyd’s 27-inning outing in the Women’s Open National quarterfinals in August, when she was pitching for the California Raiders, an 18-and-under team.

On Dec. 28, three months before her senior season was to begin, Boyd’s pitching arm was cut open at the elbow and the nerve was freed from the muscle.

“I wasn’t as scared of the surgery as I was before I had it,” Boyd said. “I remember crying when they couldn’t find what was wrong. I thought I might be permanently finished.”

She wasn’t. After weeks of extensive and painful rehabilitation, Boyd returned to pitch her team’s opener against El Toro.

But she lost that game. And people immediately started wondering if this year’s Boyd would be as good as last year’s, when she pitched nine no-hitters.

Turned out she was better. Boyd, The Times’ player of the year, finished the season with a 25-4 record. Out of 677 batters, she struck out 425 (63%). And in 204 innings, she had an 0.00 ERA.

She also pitched eight no-hitters and three perfect games. In the five playoff games she pitched, she gave up eight hits, including just two in Woodbridge’s 7-0 championship victory over Laguna Hills.

“People tease me and say they put in a bionic arm,” said Boyd, who has a three-inch scar along her right elbow.

Boyd, a three-year starter who played center field as a sophomore, also led her team in hitting for the second consecutive year with a .352 average.

She had 18 RBIs, scored 23 runs and had an on-base percentage of .445. In the championship game, she drove in the Warriors’ first run with a double and scored the team’s final run after she reached base on a single.

“At my last at-bat, I thought, ‘This is the last time I’ll ever be at the plate in a Woodbridge uniform,’ ” Boyd said. “It felt strange.”

Boyd didn’t have long to savor the feeling, though. The next day, she was in a California Raider uniform, pitching a doubleheader in a San Diego tournament.

And next season, Boyd will be in the uniform of UCLA, the 1988 NCAA softball champion. She signed a letter of intent after she also took recruiting trips to Arizona, Texas A&M;, Michigan and Fresno State.

Some softball experts wonder if Boyd will make the adjustment to college pitching. Her unusual kicking motion starts with her lead foot about three feet in front of the rubber, and college pitchers must start with both feet on the rubber.

But Boyd isn’t worried. She is used to working hard to achieve her goals.

“I’ll work all summer on the change,” she said. “I’ve made other adjustments.”

The big adjustment now is realizing that she actually accomplished what she set out to achieve.

“All of a sudden, everything I’ve been wanting to happen has happened,” she said. “I’m in shock.”

FIRST TEAM

PITCHERS

Name School IP W-L SO BB ERA Tiffany Boyd Woodbridge 204 25-4 425 22 0.00 Michele Granger Valencia 217 22-4 449 13 0.03 Terry Carpenter Edison 228 13-7 411 10 0.09 Cheryl Longeway Kennedy 168 23-3 235 43 0.37 UTILITY Ivy Pinkerton Western 54 6-1 35 9 0.64

CATCHER

Name School AB H HR RBI AVG Shannon Dolan Fountain Valley 103 32 0 10 .311 INFIELDERS Deanna Mayes Kennedy 78 26 0 12 .333 Nikki Lewis Canyon 91 34 1 4 .373 Suzie Barnett Villa Park 89 31 4 18 .348 Missy Gyde Kennedy 96 21 2 21 .219 OUTFIELDERS Leah Miller Laguna Hills 66 17 0 5 .258 Renee Pina Mission Viejo 82 37 1 6 .451 Jamie Walker Ocean View 98 23 3 8 .234 DESIGNATED HITTER Michelle Shean San Clemente 85 31 7 26 .365

SECOND TEAM PITCHERS

Name School Rae Rice Fountain Valley Margo Melendrez Laguna Hills Stephanie Smith Garden Grove Shannon Akau Buena Park CATCHER Diane Pohl Cypress INFIELDERS Laurie Graper Kennedy Sami Sawyer Fountain Valley Michelle Bell University Lisa Wehran Woodbridge OUTFIELDERS Suzie Berdis Kennedy Sheila Till Villa Park Terri Van Sickle Sunny Hills UTILITY Marla Pickard Ocean View DESIGNATED HITTER Chanelle Chambrone Tustin