Turning It Around : Foothill’s Churnock Conquers Nerves, Pulls Her Softball Game Out of the Dirt

It was nearly two years ago, but Foothill High junior shortstop Michelle Churnock remembers the 1992 Southern Section 4-A softball championship game against Newhall Hart as if it were yesterday.

Churnock, then a freshman starting on a senior-dominated team, had struggled at the plate and in the field that season, and was hoping to reverse her fortunes.

“Starting as a freshman in a CIF championship game, I was very nervous,” she said. “I told myself that I was ready to play, but deep down, I wasn’t. Then you get out there, and there’s all sorts of people in the stands. It was overwhelming.

“I remember the first grounder hit to me during warm-ups. I threw it in the dirt.”

Then the game started.

“We were wearing our white jerseys that game,” she said, “and one of the first plays I had was a ground ball to short. I got the ball and looked up, and the first white shirt I saw was someone standing in the dugout, and I threw it toward them instead of at the first baseman.”

When Churnock returned to the dugout after her error, “she was a basket case,” Foothill Coach Joe Gonzalez said. “We told her ‘just make the plays’ . . . and she did.”

Foothill went on to win the game and the title, 5-2, and Churnock has since calmed her nerves and improved her abilities enough to become one of the premier shortstops in Orange County.

Her turnaround has been remarkable. Her freshman year, Churnock had the lowest batting average on Foothill’s team (.216), and committed the most errors (16).

But last year, she more than doubled her average (.437), cut her errors to seven, and stole 26 bases to earn first-team Times Orange County and all-section Division I honors. Foothill, however, was eliminated by Marina in the second round of the playoffs.

This year, her improvement has continued. Coming into this week, she was fourth in the county in batting average (.538), fourth in stolen bases (17), and has been a steadying influence defensively on a team with no seniors.

So how did Churnock transform herself from a no-hit, poor-field freshman to a top-notch junior?

“I have never seen a kid who works like she does,” Gonzalez said. “She takes hitting lessons once a week, and she always wants to take extra ground balls. If we don’t cut her off at 100, she’ll be there till dark. As soon as batting practice is over, she goes to the weight room and works out.”

Despite the extra hitting and fielding practice Churnock takes, it might be her work in the off-season with Mater Dei assistant Doug Myers that has helped her the most. Myers has helped Churnock increase her speed, and Gonzalez says that’s what makes her so valuable to the ninth-ranked Knights.

“Softball is a game dominated by pitchers, so when you’ve got someone with that kind of speed, she can dominate a game,” Gonzalez said. “She has an ability to get us something that might not be there. If she bounces the ball twice to the shortstop, she’s on. And when she gets on, we win.”

Churnock demonstrated this Tuesday in Foothill’s Century League opener against Orange. Foothill pitcher Marie Gieron didn’t give up any runs, and Orange’s Lindsay Huebner had trouble only when Churnock got on base. In the first inning, she beat out a bunt single, stole second and scored on a single.

In the second, Churnock came up with two outs and a runner on third. She bounced a grounder to short that should have gotten Orange out of the inning. But Churnock blazed down the line, extending herself to beat the throw and give Foothill another run. The Knights won, 2-0.

While Churnock has handled her on-the-field chores with relative ease, she was handed the unexpected burden of providing team leadership this season when Amy Tessman, the Knights’ only senior and top pitcher, abruptly quit two weeks ago. Tessman was 6-1 with a 0.81 earned-run average.

But Churnock said Tessman’s departure has only helped get her ready her for next year, and hasn’t curtailed the team’s goals this season.

“When she officially quit, it was a disappointment to everybody,” Churnock said. “But the team has pulled together, and you move on and better yourself. It’s a way for me to prepare for next year, because that’s (leading the team) what I’ll be doing.

“I want to see my team accomplish a league championship, and win (a section title),” she said. “I think we have a good chance to take CIF. Hopefully, league will prepare us for that. We have a lot of ability, and potential. I think we’re pretty strong and we can handle it.”

And should Foothill (13-6) reach the final again, you can bet Churnock will be a lot more composed.