BROKEN DREAMS

Sisters Stephanie and Lauren Blaire would often lay in their bunk beds last summer and share dreams of the upcoming softball season.

They would light a candle, turn on some country music and imagine the perfect scenario.

Stephanie, a junior pitcher, and Lauren, a senior catcher, would team up to help Saugus High win its fifth consecutive Foothill League title and make a run at its second Southern Section championship in three seasons.

In the process, both would overcome considerable hurdles that had tripped them up in the past.

Stephanie, ineligible as a sophomore because of academic problems, began improving her grades.

Lauren worked tirelessly to lose weight, shedding almost 70 pounds in preparation for the most glorious spring of their lives.

Tragically, they never got the opportunity to realize those dreams.

Lauren was killed in a traffic accident on Jan. 11. She was 18. The driver of the vehicle which struck Lauren’s has been charged with drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter.

Stephanie is attempting to move on.

Blaire and her teammates will travel to Rio Mesa today for a first-round game in the Southern Section Division II playoffs.

“I think Lauren would be happy with me,” said Stephanie, 16, who wears No. 26--Lauren’s number--and bats fourth in the lineup, the spot where her older sister would have batted.

“She’d say I’m being strong.”

*

Lauren Blaire did not attend Saugus High’s winter formal dance Jan. 10, opting instead to spend the Saturday night watching videos at home with a house full of friends.

At the end of the evening, she drove one friend home to Canyon Country. It was on the return trip, at 1:48 Sunday morning, that her Acura Integra was broadsided by a sports utility vehicle at Bouquet Canyon and Plum Canyon roads in Saugus.

Sheriff’s Department officials say James Bent, 29, of Santa Clarita ran a red light. Authorities say Blaire died almost instantly.

Bent pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and remains in custody on $1 million bail. His trial is scheduled for June 2.

The southeast corner of the intersection where the accident took place quickly became a shrine to Blaire. More than four months after the accident, several candles, flowers and notes to her memory remain.

On Easter, Stephanie painted an egg and left it for her sister.

Reminders of Lauren are everywhere at Saugus.

At the beginning of the season, the junior varsity field was dedicated to her. Three oak trees were planted at the varsity field, where a plaque has been placed behind the backstop in Lauren’s honor. Each Saugus player wears a black arm patch with the initials “L.B.”

*

Stephanie credits Lauren’s friends and her Saugus teammates for giving her the strength to battle through.

Senior Valarie Reyes is Stephanie’s catcher, as well as a sister figure off the field.

“There have been times where Stephanie has broken down,” Reyes said. “We can’t ever replace Lauren, but we can do the best we can to be there for her.”

It wasn’t difficult for Blaire to adjust to Reyes behind the plate.

“Val even looks like Lauren,” Stephanie said. “She treats me just like a sister and I consider her as one.”

Stephanie finds inspiration from Lauren’s memory and relies on that to get her through tough times--on and off the field.

“I still think of Lauren all the time,” she said. “I don’t so much want to follow in her footsteps. I’m just trying to do the things she would have liked.”

Her teammates say Lauren would have approved.

“I know it must be hard for [Stephanie],” shortstop Amanda Melton said. “For her to even step on the field is a huge step.”

*

The Centurions fell short of winning their fifth consecutive league title, losing to rivals Hart, Valencia and Canyon.

The loss to Canyon in the league opener ended Saugus’ 33-game league winning streak. It was last-place Canyon’s only victory in 10 league games.

Saugus (17-9, 7-3 in league play) rallied in the final week of the season, winning two games to finish in second place, two games behind league champion Hart (20-6, 9-1).

Stephanie won both games, pitching a one-hitter in a 2-1 victory over Burroughs and a five-hitter in a 3-1 victory over Burbank.

Even before Lauren’s death, this promised to be a demanding season for Stephanie.

She was tabbed to replace graduated pitcher Nicole Giordano, The Times’ 1997 player of the year. A Saugus pitcher has been selected All-Valley in each of the past four seasons.

Blaire hasn’t exactly put up all-star numbers--she finished the regular season with a 13-6 record and a 0.90 earned-run average--but she has impressed observers with her potential and fortitude.

“She’s got all the tools,” Saugus Coach Ron Hilton said of Stephanie, who is batting .321 with two triples. “She can be very dominant and unhittable at times, and I think she’s handled everything about as well as anyone could handle it.”

Said Hart Coach Al Weil: “You have to applaud her just for playing. We can’t even imagine what she has gone through.”

*

Last summer, Lauren Blaire dropped from about 200 pounds to 130, thanks to a rigorous weightlifting and running program.

She would take the family’s Akita, Noel, for long runs. Many times, they would pass Bouquet and Plum. Stephanie occasionally joined them.

“But I would get tired and stop,” Stephanie said. “Lauren would kick me in the butt and try to push me.”

Lauren is no longer there to push her little sister, and Stephanie has had to become more self-motivated.

“Stephanie has matured a lot through this,” said Donna Blaire, Stephanie’s mother. “In a situation like that, you’re forced to grow up.”

Nick and Donna Blaire have had seven children. Lauren was the second to die. Dougie, the couple’s second child, died of leukemia at age 6 in 1979. Lauren was born eight months later.

Stephanie recently began a running regimen similar to the one Lauren undertook.

Each day, she takes Noel and runs about a mile, stopping at the intersection where her sister lost her life.

“Hopefully, some day I will be able to make it past Plum,” she said.