An Improved Foothill Team Aiming to Get the Best of Irvine

Let’s count some of the reasons why Foothill is making its first trip to a Southern Section softball championship game:

There is, for instance, the team’s capable offense sparked by catcher Kelley Green (.378 batting average, 16 runs batted in), shortstop Kathy Shortall (.343, five home runs, 24 RBIs) and third baseman Melissa Wielandt (.354, 13 stolen bases).

There is also the determination, the never-give-up attitude that helped Foothill (24-2) in the clutch. The Knights used that resiliency to beat Century League rival Canyon, 5-4, in the final league game between the teams this year by tying the score with three runs in the seventh inning and by scoring the winning run on a wild pitch in the 11th.

And there’s the much-improved defense that has committed only 37 errors after making 62 last season.

But, as the old saying goes, pitching is 75% of the game. And that’s in baseball. When it comes to softball, the number might be higher. At Foothill, the task of lending validity to that claim falls on Leeann Gonzalez, who takes a 21-2 record into tonight’s 4-A title game against Irvine (24-3) at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

Gonzalez, a junior right-hander who mixes well her lively fastball with off-speed pitches, has pitched five no-hitters this season, including a perfect game. She has an 0.32 earned-run average, 151 strikeouts and has walked only 26 batters in 153 1/3 innings.

She pitched the Knights into the finals with a 1-0 victory over Charter Oak, last year’s 4-A champion, in the semifinals Tuesday. It was her second consecutive shutout and 13th this season.

The improvement by Gonzalez, who was 11-7 last season with a 0.63 ERA, came through personal maturity and steady offensive and defensive support, an element that was missing last year.

“She does have a lot of confidence in herself and in her catcher Kelley and in her team behind her,” said Joe Gonzalez, Foothill’s second-year coach and Leeann’s father. “We’ve really cut down on the errors and her control is so much better.”

But even the belief in her ability doesn’t keep Gonzalez from battling the jitters on game days.

“I get really nervous,” she said. “I have trouble sleeping. It goes throughout the day. Then once we get on the bus, I get focused on what I have to do. The nerves pretty much go away then.”

Once on the field, Gonzalez seems relaxed and cool, particularly when fixing her ponytail between batters. “It’s kind of a superstition,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve had the same ponytail holder since the beginning of the season. It’s pretty stretched out so it doesn’t hold my hair well anymore.”

That ponytail holder might be shaky, but not Gonzalez’s pitching. Joe Gonzalez said that Leeann’s strength as a pitcher comes not only from the fastballs she hurls with the help of a highly animated windup, but also from her ability to set up batters with her assortment of pitches.

“She really works on keeping the batters off-balance,” Joe Gonzalez said. “They don’t hit her hard. The pitches she throws are so different from each other that they are really effective.”

Most of her schooling on how to pitch, Leeann said, came from her father, who has coached her in girls’ league and summer travel ball since she was about 6 years old. And though they spar occasionally, Leeann said she enjoys playing for him.

“I wouldn’t want to have anyone else (as coach),” she said. “I like his style. I think he’s very motivational. He’s very close to the players. Everything I’ve learned pretty much has come from him.”

After tonight--and if that ponytail holder stays together for one more game--that might also include how to win a championship.