School of Hard Knocks : After Her Mom’s Death, Softball Kept Chapman’s Donovan on Course

Chapman catcher Kathy Donovan knew the fence was there, she just didn’t see it. She was focusing on the low pop foul as she sprinted toward the backstop during the fifth inning of the Panthers’ NCAA Division III softball playoff game against Hope (Mich.) College last Friday.

Donovan ran out of room, crashing headfirst into the chain-link fence while sliding on her knees, but after the impact the ball was somehow in her mitt.

“I thought I caught it and hit the pole, but everybody said I hit the pole and then caught it,” Donovan said. “So they probably know better.”

Either way, Donovan was reeling--and bleeding from a puncture wound above her left ear. But after about 10 minutes to clear her head and stop the bleeding, Donovan stayed in the game. Three pitches later, a runner on first took off for second.

“She threw her out by five feet,” Chapman co-Coach Janet Lloyd said. “Yeah, she’s pretty tough.”

And very resilient, considering the tough turn Donovan’s life took six years ago. She was a junior at Anaheim High when her mother, Norma, died of lung cancer. Since then, Donovan said, she essentially has been on her own.

“I basically kept to myself for a long time,” Donovan said. “It was easier that way.”

Softball helped keep her going although she wasn’t a standout player at Anaheim or Fullerton College.

She has blossomed at Chapman, where the Panthers have come to expect gutsy performances from Donovan. The most recent example, Lloyd said, sparked the Panthers’ 1-0 victory over Hope. Inspired by Donovan’s crash/catch and perfect throw, Chapman scored in the next half inning, on a wild pitch with Donovan at bat. The next day, Chapman beat Calvin (Mich.), 6-0, in the regional title game.

Today, the Panthers are scheduled to play Simpson (Iowa) at the NCAA Division III Championship tournament. Simpson beat Ithaca (N.Y.), 1-0, Thursday.

The top-seeded Panthers won the title in 1995 and are favored again this season, thanks in large part to Donovan’s solid presence behind the plate.

Pitcher Christy Guidorizzi, who is 51-7 with 500 strikeouts in the last two seasons, wouldn’t be as successful with someone else catching, Lloyd said.

“When she calls a pitch,” Guidorizzi said, “that’s what I usually throw.”

Donovan’s arm is strong and accurate; she has thrown out more than half of the baserunners who have tried to steal (15 of 27). She hasn’t made an error and has only six passed balls. Donovan is also Chapman’s cleanup hitter with a team-high 49 runs batted in. She’s batting .383 and has stolen 11 bases in 11 attempts.

Donovan, a senior, this week was named a first-team All-American for the second season in a row. It’s an amazing success story, considering how much Donovan struggled at Fullerton College.

She was always solid defensively, but hitting was a problem. As a sophomore she barely batted .200, but it was her problems off the field that most worried her coaches.

After her mother died, Donovan lived with her father, Edward, for about four months. (Her parents had divorced when she was 6.) Donovan didn’t get along with her father, so she moved in with a teacher at Anaheim High who served as her foster parent for the next three years.

Softball was her escape, but it couldn’t always keep her above the fray.

“There was a period three years ago during which we weren’t sure if she was going to be around the next day,” Fullerton Coach Lisa Bassi said. “That’s how concerned we were about her state of mind.”

Bassi and assistant coach Norm Perez worked hard to help Donovan boost her self-esteem and gradually got results. “It was all about respect and trust,” Perez said. “Once she figured out people do care about her and want her to do well, she went with it, but it took a long time.”

Donovan continued to get positive reinforcement at Chapman and her personality has emerged. “She went from being very shy and reserved to gregarious, happy and confident,” Bassi said. “It was a big turnaround for her.”

Donovan, who plans to continue working toward a degree in psychology next school year, says she is thankful for the support. “I feel like I’m very fortunate with what I have now and the people I know now,” she said. “I don’t think I ever thought I could make it this far.”

Once Donovan turned the corner emotionally, Perez never had a doubt she would become an outstanding softball player. Now he believes she is among the top five or six collegiate players in the nation--at any level. “She has the total package,” he said.

“The other night, I told her, ‘You should be proud of yourself,’ and she said, ‘I am,’ and that was the first time I have heard her admit that.”