Fernandez at UCLA: Polishing Perfection

Before the current college softball season started in February, UCLA’s stellar pitcher Lisa Fernandez took inventory of her arsenal and, surprisingly, declared it incomplete.

“I was predominantly a drop ball pitcher,” Fernandez said. “So I worked hard during the Christmas (school) break to develop a better rise ball. It now has a lot of movement and I can throw it for strikes consistently.”

Pity the opposing batters!

With her enhanced repertoire, the already outstanding right-hander has become, well, unbeatable.

Fernandez, a 21-year-old junior, finished the regular season earlier this month with 23 victories, no losses and a 0.17 earned-run average, to lead the Bruins (47-2) in search of their fourth national championship within five seasons.

Her victories included a no-hitter against Cal State Northridge, five one-hitters and 17 shutouts. She also contributed at bat by hitting a remarkable .396 in a sport typically controlled by pitchers.

“I always strive to do better every year,” Fernandez said. “I always set high goals for myself.”

That approach made Fernandez one of the most successful and heavily recruited high school players in the country three years ago.

Born in Long Beach to a Cuban father and Puerto Rican mother, Fernandez progressed from softball youth leagues to nationwide prominence while she attended St. Joseph High in Lakewood.

“We realized when she started to play slow-pitch softball that she had a knack for the game,” said Tony Fernandez, Lisa’s father. “A family friend also saw it and put her on his girls’ team.”

In her four years at St. Joseph, Fernandez established CIF Southern Section career records for shutouts (69), no-hitters (37, tied with Cerritos Gahr’s De De Weiman, now a UCLA teammate) and ERA (0.07). She ranks third in career victories, with 80, and second in career strikeouts, with 1,503. She has pitched 12 perfect games, including three consecutive ones in 1989.

The Bruins, and everyone else, naturally noticed. They all came calling, eager to sign a player who perhaps could keep their programs afloat almost single-handedly. UCLA, with its rich softball tradition and its location, had the inside track all along. The school, which won national softball titles in 1982, ‘84, ‘85, ’88 and ’89 before Fernandez helped it win it again in 1990, didn’t have to make much of a sales pitch.

“I always figured on going to UCLA,” Fernandez said. “I gave the other schools an opportunity to compete with UCLA, but when it came down to it, there weren’t any schools that compared with UCLA, according to my list. . . . This is a girl’s dream where I am right now, going to a leading academic and athletic school.”

Last summer, Fernandez accomplished another goal when she led the U.S. team to the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.

And this season, Fernandez and the Bruins are seeking to regain the NCAA national title they lost to conference rival Arizona in 1991.

Although her time is limited because of softball and schoolwork, Fernandez said she tries to find time to work with kids. A psychology major with coaching ambitions, she figures that what she learns in one field will come in handy in the other.

“Hopefully, it’ll help me learn how to get the best of my players and how to relate to people,” Fernandez said. “I try to do whatever I can to teach young athletes what I’ve learned. Softball has given me a lot of wonderful opportunities. I’m just trying to give something back.”