Helping Hands : Transfer Lovato Picks Up Pierce Softball Team Left and Right

Change can be a good thing, as Kelly Lovato has learned lately.

A change of place and her pitches’ increased pace have gone a long way toward changing Lovato’s outlook and helping the Pierce College softball team continue a recent change of fortune.

“Things have worked out really well,” said Lovato, who transferred to Pierce after playing last season for Moorpark College. “I’m really happy. I’ve never had a year like this one before.”

Few Pierce players ever have.

Lovato, a sophomore, is enjoying a record-setting season as a right-handed pitcher and helping herself offensively as a left-handed leadoff batter for the Brahmas.

She already owns Pierce single-season records with 16 shutouts and 243 strikeouts. She set another standard by going 86 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

In 233 innings in 35 games, Lovato has given up 115 hits, 57 walks and 47 runs, 18 of which have been earned. With an earned-run average of 0.54, she is on pace to break the school’s single-season record of 0.66 set last year by Anna Calzada.

Lovato also has tied school records by twice striking out 15 batters in a game and throwing two no-hitters, including a perfect game against Cuesta.

With Lovato pitching every inning, Pierce has a 27-7-1 overall record, 12-2 in Western State Conference play. With a victory over front-running Hancock College today in Santa Maria, the Brahmas can pull into a first-place tie.

Pierce already has earned its second consecutive playoff appearance. Before last season, the Brahmas had not played in the postseason in 11 years.

Lovato has been the primary reason for Pierce’s success this season. She has twice made all-tournament teams, once after leading the Brahmas to the San Diego City tournament title.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth in Kelly since she’s come to Pierce,” Brahma Coach Dan Berry said. “Her confidence level has just risen so much, and she has really come a long way.”

Lovato felt she had a long way to go, even after enjoying some success last season at Moorpark, where she compiled a 16-11 record, a 1.43 ERA and earned all-conference honors as a freshman.

Despite pitching well, Lovato was unhappy at Moorpark because she was not allowed to hit regularly.

“I wasn’t motivated,” Lovato said. “I just really wasn’t very happy last season. . . . I wanted to show what I could do.”

Lovato played last summer with the California Waves, who won the Amateur Softball Assn. national championship in the 18-and-under division.

The Waves were 45-11 overall, 13-1 in the national tournament. Lovato, who shared pitching duties with former Thousand Oaks High standout Jessie Davenport, had a record of 12-3.

When she wasn’t pitching, Lovato played every position except catcher and shortstop.

After working on her game and lifting weights, Lovato’s confidence was bolstered and her enthusiasm for softball renewed by the Waves’ success.

Pierce has been the beneficiary.

“I think I’ve developed more and I’m getting stronger,” said Lovato, 18, who skipped a grade in elementary school and graduated from Royal High in 1994 at 16.

“I’m throwing harder and I have more control over my breaking balls.”

Along with an improved fastball, Lovato throws a curve, a screwball and a riseball. She also has been working to develop a drop pitch.

Lovato has been as effective at the plate as she is on the mound.

Her .397 average ranks second among the Brahmas to Lily Hernandez, who is at .400. She is tied for the team lead with 46 hits, including two home runs, four triples and two doubles with 20 runs batted in. She has struck out only six times in 116 at-bats.

Lovato has a .452 on-base percentage and has eight stolen bases in nine tries. Her 23 runs rank third and she tops the Brahmas with a .988 fielding percentage.

“She was always good,” said Dale Okinaka, Lovato’s coach with the California Waves. “But I think now she’s really seeing what she can do. She can play at a really high level, and I think she’s finally realizing that.”

Lovato attributes her improvement to renewed focus and a change in her approach to playing.

“I’m really determined,” she said. “It’s just a mentality, when you make up your mind about something. This season I wanted to try harder and do better than I ever did before.”

Lovato hopes to continue playing at a four-year college.

Auburn and Virginia already have made scholarship offers, but Lovato would like to remain in California. UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State also are interested.

“When I came out of high school, I really didn’t think I was ready to go to a four-year school,” Lovato said.

“I mean, when it came to facing just a batter one on one, I believed I could strike them out. But I didn’t know if I could take my whole game up to another level.”

She has changed her mind about that. To Lovato, it is just one more change for the better.