Former Newbury Park Star Expects Red-Letter Days at Stanford

Sandy Pearce never has backed down from a challenge.

Instead, the Stanford softball coach seems to look for them.

Two years ago, the former Newbury Park High softball player was completing a two-year stay at UC Santa Barbara, during which she saved the school’s softball problem from near extinction.

Pearce must be a glutton for punishment.

Her goal now is to take the Cardinal from non-scholarship, club status to a national championship in Division I.

Stanford will have to do it the hard way--by competing in the Pacific 10 Conference, which many experts consider the toughest in the nation. Stanford has a record of 1-23 in its inaugural Pac-10 campaign.

“I didn’t come here just to come to Stanford,” Pearce said. “I came here because of the administration’s commitment to women’s athletics.

“We can definitely win a national championship. It’s going to take some time and the right athletes. But we’re so excited about the potential.”

As Pearce’s second season at Stanford comes to a close, the Cardinal has an overall record of 15-33 this season, 20-63 over the past two.

The early returns against the Pac-10 appear ghastly: nine losses by shutout, nine by 10 or more runs.

On April 14, the Cardinal lost, 25-0, at No. 1 Arizona, yet Pearce has only positive recollections of the game.

“Arizona went on an amazing inning, (in which) I think they had 15 hits,” Pearce said. “But we were playing great. We hit doubles against them and played great defense.

“In the beginning, the girls were looking around wondering, ‘What are we doing out here?’ But now they’re making great diving catches and playing above their level.

“You would think that we should be hiding our heads with those scores. But we don’t feel that way. These are the best teams in the nation.”

Junior catcher Lynn Anderson, like Pearce a Newbury Park alumna, transferred to Stanford from Yale last year and is one of only two scholarship players on the roster.

Anderson, who is batting .306, helped the Cardinal beat Oregon State, 9-5, for its only conference victory, but she, too, calls the 25-0 loss to Arizona the highlight of the season.

In that game, Anderson singled against the Wildcats’ two best pitchers, Carrie Dolan and Hoover High graduate Nancy Evans.

“I was so psyched for it, and I feel I played well,” she said. “(Arizona’s Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium) was so beautiful and there must have been a thousand people in the stands. I’m definitely having fun.”

Pearce is used to winning. She was a record-setting pitcher both in high school and in college. At Newbury Park, she struck out 427 batters her senior season--a state record later broken by Michele Granger.

But Pearce is also familiar with losing. UC Santa Barbara has had only one winning season since her freshman year, 1984.

In 1991, the university considered dropping the program but hired Pearce in a last-ditch gesture of support.

Pearce, who played at UCSB under her maiden name, Sandy Ortigies, before marrying Andy Pearce, is one of the school’s best-ever softball products. She holds seven school pitching records.

Under Pearce, the Gauchos were 41-58. But they upset 10 teams that were ranked in the top 20. By the end of the second year, a funding effort to build an on-campus stadium headed by Pearce had succeeded.

But Pearce bolted to Stanford.

She did so only because Stanford officials planned to model softball after their women’s basketball and volleyball programs, which are perennially among the best in the NCAA.

And with a strong 1995 recruiting class already signed, the Cardinal have already taken a big step toward winning.

Among the recruits are Shane Anderson, a returning Times All-Ventura shortstop from La Reina High, top hitters Michelle Schneider of Los Alamitos and Jennie Foyle of El Modena, and standout pitchers Marcie Crouch of Marina and Becky Blevins of Scottsdale, Ariz.

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Around the country: In baseball, Brigham Young first baseman David Bayles (Crescenta Valley) is batting .347. . . . USC infielder Ernie Diaz (Crescenta Valley) is batting .265, but five of his 26 hits are home runs. . . . Cal sophomore infielder Dan Cey (El Camino Real) is batting .279. He is second on the team in runs (37) and runs batted in (38), and has 27 stolen bases in 37 attempts. Sophomore pitcher Keith Evans (Crespi) is 7-6 with a 4.65 earned-run average. . . .

Cal State Dominguez Hills infielder Jason Stanley (Bell-Jeff/Valley College) is batting .266 and leads the Toros in hits (50), RBIs (30) and triples (three). Pitcher Jesse Yoemans (Chatsworth) has a team-best 0.93 ERA.

In softball, Arizona first baseman Amy Chellevold (Thousand Oaks) is batting .444, has struck out only five times in 216 at bats, and has stolen 27 bases in 30 attempts. Chellevold owns the NCAA record with 355 base hits. Second baseman Jenny Dalton (Glendale) leads the Wildcats in hits (73) and ranks second in both home runs (27) and RBIs (90). She is batting .406. . .

Arizona third baseman Krista Gomez (Alemany) is batting .382. Sophomore pitcher Nancy Evans (Hoover) is 26-3 with a 1.64 ERA. . . . Utah second baseman Cyndee Bennett was Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week after batting .684 in five games, with six home runs and 17 RBIs. She twice hit two home runs in a game. . . .

Arizona State outfielder Erin Hull (Hart) is batting .317, while Sun Devil pitcher Carrie Breedlove (Bell-Jeff) is 17-10 with a 1.77 ERA. . . .