Relaxation Helps Put Lewis Back in Swing

The most maddening thing for Amy Lewis was that she knew she was a good hitter.

She had been showing it game after game in the early part of this season for the Southern California College softball team. Then the Golden State Athletic Conference season started and she managed only three hits in the first eight games.

“It was bad,” Lewis said. “It seemed like I would hit really well against our nonconference opponents, then I would go totally in the tank in the conference games.

“I was getting caught up in the numbers thing.”

That can be excused on a team that hits as well as the Vanguards, who lead the NAIA District 3 in batting average at .324. Six starters are batting better than .300, including Lewis. But that’s only after a major rally last week.

Lewis said the key to breaking the slump was extra work after practice and learning to relax at the plate. After that, breaking through wasn’t hard to do.

She batted .647 (11 for 17) in the Vanguards’ final six regular-season games last week, boosting her average 42 points to .336. Lewis, a junior from Rancho Santiago College and Villa Park High, had five doubles, a triple and drove in nine runs and was named District 3 player of the week.

After the slump, Lewis was tickled by her performance.

“I was even laughing after the hits,” she said. “I was standing out on the bases cracking up. I couldn’t believe it.”

Bekki Turner, who co-coaches the Vanguards with Terry Zeigler, wasn’t surprised. Turner hadn’t been concerned during the slump; Lewis was helping in other ways. Even before last week, Lewis led the district in runs batted in and triples (she now has 48 RBIs and 10 triples) and Turner believes she is the best defensive catcher in the district.

“She controls the game from behind the plate,” Turner said. “She keeps people up and is a good leader on the field.”

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The Vanguards (41-8, 14-2), ranked seventh nationally by the NAIA, won their second consecutive Golden State Athlete Conference title and will play host to the District 3 tournament, May 6-7.

Azusa Pacific and Cal Baptist, assured of finishing second and third in the conference, are the other two teams in the tournament. SCC is 8-0 against those teams this season.

If the Vanguards win the district tournament, they will play host to third-ranked Hawaii Pacific in a regional playoff the following week. The winner advances to the national championship tournament, May 18-21 at Columbia (Mo.) College.

The Vanguards, who have set a school record for victories, have lost only four games to NAIA teams this season--two conference games to Point Loma Nazarene and two to No. 4 West Florida, the defending NAIA champion.

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Near sweep: The Vanguards won three of the four District 3 player of the week awards. Along with Lewis, softball pitcher Beth Howard and baseball pitcher Jeff Beckley were honored.

Howard, a senior from Oregon State and Cypress High, recorded three shutouts in victories over Pacific Christian, UC San Diego and Cal Baptist. In 20 innings, she struck out 19. Howard, who hasn’t given up a run in 30 innings, has won 10 in a row to raise her record to 22-3. She leads the district with a 0.61 earned-run average.

Beckley, a junior from Trabuco Hills High, didn’t give up an earned run in 11 2/3 innings. He shut out Cal Baptist on five hits and pitched 3 2/3 perfect innings of relief against Concordia, striking out six in a row at one point. Beckley also was named conference pitcher of the week.

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The Southern California College men’s and women’s tennis teams are at Westmont College this week playing in the District 3 championships. Ross Andel, a 25-year-old sophomore from the former Czechoslovakia, is seeded seventh in the men’s singles draw. His wife, Wendy, 21, is seeded third in women’s singles and Jocelyn Jespersen, a junior transfer from Saddleback College, is seeded seventh.

Andel and Jespersen are seeded third in women’s doubles.