SOFTBALL : They Come to Hit Parker, Usually Miss : High school: La Canada ace turns batters away in droves, leads Spartans into playoffs.

Seems like everyone wants to swing a bat against Lindsay Parker--classmates, sportswriters, even movie stars.

Few manage to make contact with one of Parker’s sizzling pitches. But Parker, a senior at La Canada High, enjoys and even encourages the competition--despite her father’s displeasure.

“It’s probably not a good idea,” said Tom Parker, who doubles as La Canada’s coach. “We tend to shy away from that kind of thing.”

Yet the pitcher’s competitive spirit usually prevails--maybe because challenges have been few for Parker on the field.

“Ever since I was a freshman, I’ve been hearing, ‘Come on, Parker! You and me, right now. I want to hit off you,’ ” Parker said. “Mostly the guys. They’re the ones who want to boost their egos.

“I’d just as soon have them come out here and hit against me and then be quiet about it.”

Parker has shut down nearly all comers this season while leading the Spartans (20-3) into the opening round of the Southern Section Division IV playoffs today against visiting Atascadero.

The division’s player of the year last season, Parker (20-3) has pitched six no-hitters--including a perfect game--and has 322 strikeouts in 163 innings. During one stretch, Parker pitched four no-hitters in five games.

Parker’s total of 28 no-hitters ranks fourth in the Southern Section record book. This season, she has 15 shutouts and has even pitched a no-hitter in defeat, losing, 1-0, to Temple City on a seventh-inning walk, a stolen base and two passed balls.

Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered to Fresno State on scholarship, Parker has been so overpowering that teammates jokingly have complained of boredom during games.

“Sometimes I say, ‘Go ahead, let them hit it,’ ” third baseman Shannon Smith said. “I don’t really mean it. It’s just that I get a ground ball, maybe, once every two games.”

Catcher Lauren Burns, her left thumb swollen from a season of catching Parker, sees considerably more action than her teammates.

“I’m sure they must get kind of bored, just watching the ball go by,” Burns said.

Parker’s boredom, at times, is genuine. She admittedly is more enthused about playing with the Orange County Batbusters, a travel-ball team which she has played for the last two years. And she is eager to test her mettle against college batters.

Tom Parker says his daughter always has been motivated by reaching the next level.

“When other kids go out on Friday night and go to a party, Lindsay stays home and goes to bed because she’s got to be on the field in Orange County on Saturday morning,” he said.

“Of games, I don’t get tired because I’m in on every pitch,” Parker said. “But I can see how [teammates] can get bored. It gets to be a joke . . . against really, really poor teams.”

All of which makes the personal challenges more tempting.

Usually, Parker squares off against the boyfriend of a teammate. Or a curious bystander. But one never knows who is going to step forward with a bat.

Last January, Parker was the main attraction during an on-campus softball clinic. Among the enrolled were two young daughters of actor Kevin Costner.

Parker approached Costner for an autograph. Costner signed a softball and glanced at the bat rack.

“He said, ‘I want to hit off you. Will you pitch to me?’ ” Parker said. “But I had to get to a pitching lesson in Orange County, so I had to leave. I said, ‘Sometime when it’s convenient.’ He came to one of our games and I saw him again. He said, ‘You’re still going to pitch to me, right?’ ”

More than a dozen Division I schools wanted Parker to pitch for them. She made recruiting visits to Oklahoma State, California, Pacific and Utah before deciding on Fresno State. Parker declined an invitation to visit UCLA after realizing Fresno was where she wants to be.

“I walked on the campus and I knew it was for me,” Parker said. “I really liked the coach and how she dealt with players and the respect they have for her.”

Parker is the first to admit the going will get tougher in college. For starters, the pitching rubber is 43 feet from home plate, three feet farther than in high school. Moreover, batters are more formidable throughout the lineup. Many overpowering high school pitchers have found the transition sobering.

“It will take some time to get used to it,” Parker said. “I don’t expect to be anywhere near as overpowering. Even the weaker teams in college have good-enough hitters that I won’t be able to strike out more than five or six batters a game. I’ll have to rely on my defense more.”

Still, Coach Margie Wright, who has led the Bulldogs to Women’s College World Series appearances in seven of the past eight seasons, said she expects Parker to start as a freshman.

“I’ve watched Lindsay for a couple of years and I think she’s done an excellent job,” Wright said. “I think the transition from high school to college will be quicker with her than with most kids. And that’s appealing to me.”

Fresno appealed to Parker for more than one reason. The Bulldogs typically draw more than 1,000 fans to home games and the school is scheduled to unveil a $3.2 million stadium next season.

For Parker, living in Fresno means remaining a big fish in a small pond.

“It reminds me a little of La Canada, where you know who everybody is,” Parker said. “Besides, I always pitch better when there are people watching.”