1994 LOS ANGELES TIMES : All-Ventura Softball Team : Coach of the Year : She Straightened Out the Curves : Suzanne Manlet: Adversity only spiced a season to remember.

Life threw more than a few curves at Simi Valley High softball Coach Suzanne Manlet this season.

But Manlet, the consummate competitor and The Times’ Ventura County coach of the year, handled each one with the same style and determination that has made her a winner for 14 seasons.

No, the Pioneers didn’t repeat as Southern Section Division I champions. In fact, they didn’t even make it past the second round of the playoffs.

But what a memorable season. Because of the January earthquake, players were forced to take classes at a rival high school for two months and endure a month of 8 a.m. practices in the winter chill. Manlet struggled to keep the state’s top-ranked Pioneers focused despite player injuries, her father’s life-threatening illness and her own life-saving surgery.

“It was unfortunate that all those things happened,” Manlet said. “(But a record of) 24-3 I’m very happy with. The kids had a good time.”

The earthquake was the first disaster to test the Pioneers. Some buildings at Simi Valley High were damaged in the shaker and students were forced to attend classes at nearby Royal during repairs. Simi Valley students attended from 12:15 p.m. until 4:50 p.m, which necessitated early morning practices.

Injuries also hounded the Pioneers. Starters Sara Griffin, Tracy Hansen, Jessica Cunningham and Lisa DeStefano each missed at least one game because of injury.

In the second half of the season, Manlet’s father was hospitalized for a month.

While Al Manlet’s life hung in the balance, his daughter visited him daily, never missing a practice or a game--until March 24, the day she herself was forced to undergo surgery to remove a cancerous growth.

It was also the day Simi Valley was competing in the second round of the playoffs.

Without their leader the Pioneers were defeated by Lompoc, 2-0.

“I felt like I let them down,” Manlet said. “And they felt like they let me down.”

Al Manlet has returned home and Suzanne Manlet says she is feeling fine. In a difficult season, most players came to realize that sometimes things don’t work out the way you want--and, at the same time, they do.