Wielandt’s Glove Steadies Foothill

For 10 years, Foothill softball Coach Joe Gonzalez has routinely put Melissa Wielandt’s name on his lineup card.

But tonight, Wielandt will play her final game for Gonzalez when second-seeded Foothill (25-7) plays Newhall Hart (19-4) for the Southern Section 4-A championship at 7:30 p.m. at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

Wielandt, a senior, has signed a letter of intent to play at Iowa next season.

“I’ve had her since she was 8 in Bobby Sox softball all the way up ‘til now,” said Gonzalez, the third-year coach at Foothill. “She’s like family.

“She’s one of the best third basemen I’ve seen. On defense, she covers so much ground it takes pressure off our shortstop.”

Wielandt committed only three errors last season while earning second-team all-county honors.

“I worked a lot on my hitting last summer with my travel team coach, Rich Chambrose,” Wielandt said. “I always felt confident about my defense, and this year, I finally feel like my offense is equal to my defense.”

She is hitting .338 with 15 runs scored and 10 runs batted in.

But defense has always been Wielandt’s strong suit, and her steady nerves and glove have helped the Knights reach the 4-A title game in back-to-back seasons.

In last year’s championship game against Irvine, Foothill committed two errors in the first inning.

“After the errors, Melissa was the one who called everyone to the mound to try and settle things down,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez watched his daughter, 1991 all-county pitcher Leeann, escape the inning with only one run in. However, that’s all that was needed by Irvine pitcher Jennifer Brundage, The Times Orange County player of the year in 1991, who won, 1-0.

After the Knights posted a 3-2 victory over El Toro in this year’s semifinals, Wielandt said she and her teammates aren’t satisfied with just being in the championship game, but are ready to win it.

“Although we only lost two games before the title game last year, no one on our team expected us to be there,” Wielandt said. “But this year, I just have a feeling that this team is going to do it.”

With four all-county players--Gonzalez, catcher Kelley Green, infielder Christina Mazurie and Wielandt--returning, Foothill was ranked No. 2 in the state in Cal-Hi’s preseason poll.

But the pressure of early expectations coupled with numerous injuries and illnesses led to seven nonleague losses.

One of the casualties was Wielandt, who missed eight games in late March with mononucleosis.

Freshman utility player Dawn Davidson filled in for Wielandt, and Foothill won the Cypress tournament. The Knights lost only to 4-A quarterfinalist Brea-Olinda in a nonleague game before Wielandt’s return for league play.

“The freshmen coming in helped a lot,” Wielandt said. “I think all the adversity brought us together. Everyone contributes on this team.”

Three Foothill seniors may be playing Division I softball next season. According to Coach Gonzalez, only one Knight has gone on to play at a four-year school before this season. Green said she has signed a letter of intent to play at Northwestern, Wielandt will play at Iowa, and Gonzalez, who has been accepted at UCLA but did not receive a softball scholarship, will try to walk on with the Bruins.

“But boy, it’ll be hard to replace Melissa,” he said. “I’ve had her for so long down there at third . . . “

She will be there one more time tonight, and both Gonzalez and Wielandt are hoping for a championship farewell.