GROWING NUMBERS: Girls’ fast pitch continues to...

GROWING NUMBERS: Girls’ fast pitch continues to grow in high schools. Nationwide, 465 schools added the sport to their athletic programs in 1994-95. Fast pitch now includes a record 278,395 participants, according to figures compiled by the National Federation of High Schools.

LUCKY 13: Amy Chellevold, a former University of Arizona and Thousand Oaks High player, will see her No. 13 high school jersey retired April 20 at a ceremony preceding a Thousand Oaks tournament softball game. . . . Chellevold, Arizona’s first four-time All-American and four-time first-team All-Pac-10 player in softball, set NCAA career records with 371 hits and 252 runs scored. The first baseman made just 12 errors in 1,817 chances.

STAMP OF APPROVAL: Rumor has it that the image on the front of the 1996 Olympic Games softball stamp (above) is none other than Cal State Northridge Coach Janet Sherman, who played at UCLA from 1983 to ’86 as Janet Pinneau. But Robin Wright of the U.S. Postal Service said while it might be Sherman’s likeness, “the stamps are supposed to be generic images . . . A person has to be dead 10 years before they can be on a stamp.” Sherman, however, remembers this same pose on a 1988 NCAA poster. Stamps will go on sale in May.

CALLING ALL FANS: Looking for information on the first USA Olympic softball team? Call (900) 884-4441 to receive the latest reports on Team USA. The information is updated weekly and available each Monday for 99 cents a minute. Three area players--Kim Maher, Sheila Cornell and Barbara Jordan--will be competing for the U.S. in Atlanta this summer.

NATURAL PROGRESSION: Several former CSUN players have joined the local coaching ranks, including first-year coaches Beth Calcante (Westlake) and Jen Fleming (Burbank). Others include Margaret Neill (Paraclete), Dana Vasquez (Louisville), Beth Silverman (Campbell Hall) and Andrea Rochetti (Chatsworth).