1994 LOS ANGELES TIMES : All-Ventura Softball Team : Player & Pitcher of the Year : Marmonte Marvels : Sara Griffin: Talented pitcher ends superlative career--much to the relief of Marmonte League batters.

The reign is over and Marmonte League batters couldn’t be happier.

Simi Valley High right-hander Sara Griffin, The Times’ Ventura County pitcher of the year, has thrown her last trademark riseball for the Pioneers, who dominated during her four seasons.

Griffin single-handedly guided the Pioneers to two Southern Section Division I championship games, one section title, two league titles and a No. 1 ranking in the state.

Next season, the Pioneers without Griffin figure to be like the UCLA Bruins without Lisa Fernandez--tough, but possibly not tough enough.

Simi Valley’s Suzanne Manlet has coached several above-average pitchers in her 14-year tenure, but none can match the sheer athleticism and skill of Griffin, Cal-Hi Sports’ state player of the year the past two seasons.

“She’s on top of them all,” Manlet said. “Her hard work and determination from a very young age helped develop her into a wonderful player and individual.”

Michigan-bound Griffin was plagued by an inflamed arm throughout most of the season, but her statistics hardly suffered.

She pitched 16 shutouts and finished 21-2. She allowed just seven runs--four of which were earned--in 183 innings for a 0.15 earned-run average. She struck out 252 and her strikeout-to-walk ratio was 18-1.

She was no slouch as a batter either. Griffin led the team in nearly every offensive category.

She batted .301 with 16 runs, 25 hits, 12 runs batted in, four triples and two home runs.

The only thing more threatening to opponents than Griffin in the pitching circle was Griffin on the base paths. She stole 18 bases without being caught and stole home twice.

During Griffin’s four-year reign, the Pioneers never lost more than six games in a season.

After her freshman year, she accounted for three of every four Pioneer victories. She finished her career with a 63-6 record and a 0.13 ERA. She struck out 704 in 532 innings, an average of 1.3 strikeouts per inning.

After guiding the Pioneers to the school’s first section softball title in her junior year, Griffin returned for her senior season determined to repeat.

Although she picked up right where she left off, circumstances conspired against her. The Northridge earthquake, 8 a.m. practices, injuries and Manlet’s hospitalization for cancer thwarted the Pioneers’ repeat attempt.

After claiming its second consecutive league title, Simi Valley lost to Lompoc, 2-0, in the second round of the playoffs, the same day Manlet had life-saving surgery.

“We named our season, ‘A season to remember,’ ” Griffin said. “We had our ups and downs and there were a lot of injuries. . . . We had a lot of obstacles (but) we had a fairly good season considering what happened.”

1st-Team All-Stars Invited to Times’ Awards Ceremony

Players selected to the All-Valley and All-Ventura County baseball and softball teams are invited to a Times’ awards brunch Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. The guest speaker is Rich Hill, baseball coach at University of San Francisco who formerly coached at Cal Lutheran.