Star Softball Hurler Michele Granger Fighting Back From Mystifying Injury

Michele Granger never thought it would turn out this way.

Last year at this time, she was one of the best women’s softball pitchers in the world--maybe the best. Granger, who rewrote the record books at Valencia High School in Placentia, was expected to dominate college hitters the way she’d handled national and international hitters for years, and perhaps lead the California Golden Bears to a national championship.

Then it happened.

Her pitching hand began to swell. It would start in her left index finger, move down into her palm and back up through her middle finger.

Before long, the young woman who threw a fastball 70 m.p.h. couldn’t throw at all.

“It was impossible to grip the ball,” she said.

After pitching just 25 innings as a Cal freshman last season, Granger had to go on an enforced athletic vacation--which was no fun at all for someone who’d said: “I’m very much a perfectionist. I don’t want to be average.”

Making matters worse was the fact that doctors haven’t been able to determine what’s causing the swelling. And months of therapy haven’t taken care of the problem.

“I saw a couple of therapists just about every day last summer,” she said. “They thought it might be a nerve, might be a muscle, might be this and that. But they never found anything conclusive.”

Granger does have less swelling now, though. She’s been working out with the fingers of her left hand taped in an effort to keep the inflammation down, and she’s going to try to pitch through the pain.

“I still want to throw,” she said, “and the doctors say there shouldn’t be any harm as long as I don’t let the hand get too swollen.

“It’s hard to say what will happen long term. . . . I think I’m going to be a little slower than I’d like, and it will be interesting to see if I have any control. I’m probably throwing in the lower 60s now, but by mid-season I’d like to be back into the 70s and throwing some smoke.”

Cal Coach Diane Ninemire said she’ll probably test Granger--who will retain four years of eligibility--on Feb. 7, when her Bears, 38-26 and tied for ninth in 1989 national rankings, open their season with a double-header in Berkeley against Santa Clara.

It’s already been a new year to remember for Granger who married John Poulos, a law student, Dec. 30.

And she has taken off the 10 pounds or so she gained during her inactivity last year.

“Having to fit into a wedding dress does wonders for your figure,” she said.