HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL / SOUTHERN SECTION 4-A DIVISION FINAL : Aggressive Hitters, Team Speed Give Hart, Foothill Similar Look

Spectators at tonight’s Southern Section 4-A Division championship softball game might suffer double vision watching the teams from Hart and Foothill highs square off at Mayfair Park in Lakewood at 7:30.

Both teams rely on “short-game” strategy, and each has lost seven games this season. Each starting pitcher has lost five games.

The similarities between the teams do not end there. Hart’s leadoff batter is Jamie Dean, a slap-hitter with exceptional speed. Dean, a senior second baseman, is the second-most prolific hitter in Southern Section history with 190 hits. Julie Smith of Charter Oak (1982-86) is the record-holder with 206.

Foothill (25-7), seeded No. 2, has its own version of Dean in senior third baseman Melissa Wielandt. Wielandt, a left-handed batter who also relies on speed to beat out grounders, is batting .338.

“We’ve got the best speed we’ve ever had,” Hart Coach Al Weil said. “They’re really aggressive and smart to go along with it.”

There are also similarities between the teams’ cleanup hitters: Hart’s Kim Neighbors and Foothill’s Kelley Green are senior catchers with a penchant for the big hit.

Neighbors (.400) knocked in the game’s only run in Hart’s victory over top-seeded La Habra in the semifinals. Green, who is batting a team-high .424, has 22 runs batted in and three triples.

Foothill’s success can be largely attributed to Coach Joe Gonzalez’s daughter, Leeann.

Leeann Gonzalez (23-5), a senior right-hander, has 13 shutouts. In the regular season, Gonzalez recorded 179 strikeouts and posted an earned-run average of 0.45.

Hart sophomore right-hander Lauren Fenstemaker (19-5), with an ERA of 1.20, is not quite the pitcher Hart teams were accustomed to in the 1980s (Samantha Ford and Kym Weil), but she does a solid job.

“We don’t have an overly dominating pitcher,” Weil said, “but, obviously, she’s good enough.”

Foothill lost to Irvine, 1-0, in last year’s final. Hart (22-7) has not played in a championship game since 1982, when it lost to Bellflower.