Richmond Plays Sport Just for Fun of It

Christy Richmond played volleyball in high school as a diversion. It was something she did to take her mind off softball, her primary sport.

Now, two years later, she’s playing volleyball at Fullerton College for fun. She has given up softball, the game that seemed so promising but turned so unpleasant.

Richmond started pitching when she was 12. At La Habra High School, she played three seasons of varsity softball and was a two-time All-Freeway League pitcher.

She played two years of varsity volleyball after being cut from the team as a sophomore. At 6-feet, Richmond played only on the front line and was rotated out of the lineup before she reached the back row. Nevertheless, she was named an all-league middle blocker as a senior.

Last season at Fullerton, she thought about playing volleyball but didn’t on the advice of softball Coach Margo Davis.

Richmond instead concentrated on softball full time, hoping for a chance--one that never really came.

Richmond, who specialized in offspeed pitches, appeared in 17 games and had a 5-3 record with four saves. She pitched a no-hitter against Golden West, but was the team’s second pitcher behind Kristen Jacobs.

Jacobs, a hard-throwing sophomore, was 28-7 with an 0.41 earned-run average. She was a first-team all-state pitcher.

“I knew I shouldn’t have been the top pitcher,” Richmond said. “But together, (Jacobs) and I could have been more effective. I just never really got the chance.”

On the final day of the state tournament, Fullerton played three games, losing the last one--and the title--to Palomar. Richmond warmed up several times that day, but faced only one batter.

She had thoughts of giving up softball before then, but the lack of action on that long day was the clincher. Her softball career was over. “I just really got sick of it,” Richmond said. “I never had time to do anything else. It no longer was worth it to me. I wasn’t having fun.”

She spent the summer playing in a volleyball class at Fullerton and decided to got out for the team in the fall.

In so doing, Richmond walked away from the chance to be Fullerton’s top pitcher this spring and a possible Division I scholarship. She has no regrets.

“If I get a scholarship in volleyball then that would be great, but I’m not thinking about it,” she said. “That’s not what I came here (Fullerton) for. I want to get my classes and move on. Education is the important thing.”

She now spends her time playing volleyball with freshman eligibility, and has no plans to return to the softball team this spring. But she hasn’t cut herself off completely from softball. She works as a pitching coach for some youth-league players.

“I didn’t even know she played volleyball in high school,” Fullerton volleyball Coach Julie Ortman said. “She is doing well this season so far. Had she concentrated on volleyball more in high school, she could be awesome.

“She told me that she didn’t even get to play backcourt in high school, but she has worked on it and is fine there. She is just a good athlete.”

Volleyball race: Fullerton plays at Golden West tonight in a match that could put the Hornets in first place in the Orange Empire Conference. Golden West, the conference and state defending champion, is 6-2 overall and 4-0 in conference. Fullerton (7-2, 4-1) and Saddleback (7-1, 4-1) are tied for second in the conference.

Football poll: El Camino (5-0) remains in the top spot of the weekly Southland football poll. Riverside (6-0) is second, Ventura (6-0) third, Los Angeles Southwest (5-0-1) fourth, Bakersfield (4-0-2), fifth, Orange Coast (5-1) sixth, Rancho Santiago (5-1) seventh, Moorpark (5-1), eighth, Fullerton (4-2) ninth and Pasadena (4-2) 10th.

Wrestling: The state’s wrestling coaches’ second poll has Golden West ranked eighth and Cypress ninth. Fresno is the top-ranked team in the state.

Sam Lopez (118 pounds) of Cypress is the only local wrestler ranked first in a weight class.

Community College Notes

In less than a full season, Fullerton water polo Coach Bill Brown has the Hornets pointed in a positive direction. Fullerton is 8-7 overall and 3-2 in the South Coast Conference. Adam Smith, a freshman from Sunny Hills High School, leads the Hornets with 31 goals. Fullerton was 4-16 overall and 1-5 in the conference last season. . . . Marvin Miller has been named softball coach at Saddleback. Miller replaces Pete Morris, who coached the Gauchos from 1986 through the 1989 season and had a record of 114-46. Morris led Saddleback to a state title in 1987. Miller coached at Long Beach College last season.