Cox, LeCocq Inspire Title Aspirations

By DAVE DESMOND

March 2, 1999 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

At Quartz Hill and Chaminade highs expectations are running high, and for good reason.

With Jodie Cox of Quartz Hill and Maureen LeCocq of Chaminade each back for their senior seasons, both schools are dreaming of Southern Section titles.

And they’re not just pipe dreams.

Quartz Hill captured the Division II championship last season behind Cox, The Times’ Valley player of the year. LeCocq, the Valley pitcher of the year, led the Eagles to a Division IV semifinal.

“Yeah, it would be pretty disappointing if we didn’t win it all,” said LeCocq, who led the Eagles to the Mission League championship last season, their first league title in 21 years. “I’m going to do whatever I can to make that happen.”

That’s a lot of pressure to heap on the shoulders of any player.

But neither Cox nor LeCocq are just any player, and both place more pressure on themselves than anyone else.

“I don’t think pressure is ever a distraction to Maureen,” Chaminade Coach Steve Harrington said. “If it effects her, she sure doesn’t show it.”

Ditto for Cox.

“I’m not happy unless I’ve done my personal best,” said the left-hander, a three-time All-Valley selection by The Times. “If I give 110%, then I’m satisfied, and the outcome usually takes care of itself.”

Cox has a chance to become the first Golden League athlete to ever win four league championships and four most valuable player awards in a team sport.

“To win four and four, that would be incredible,” said Coach Glenda Potts of rival Highland. “Jodie probably still thinks she has something to prove.”

LeCocq, a right-hander and two-time All-Valley selection, is equally driven. Asked to list her personal goals this season, she wrote, “To throw a shutout and no-hitter in every [league] game.”

The Stanford-bound LeCocq enters the season with a streak of 164 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. She was 20-8 with 255 strikeouts and a 0.06 earned-run average as a junior.

Cox, a left-hander who has committed to Cal State Fullerton, last year was 24-3 with a 0.32 ERA and 247 strikeouts. She also batted .455 with 31 runs batted in and a region-high nine home runs.

“I’m just glad she’s playing for us,” Quartz Hill Coach Coy Ray said. “I wouldn’t want to have to play against her.”

Last summer, LeCocq pitched her Southern California Stealth 18-and-under team to a second-place finish at nationals.

Cox’s San Dimas Flash D’ Gold team was seventh at the 18-and-under Gold nationals.

Unfortunately, a Cox-LeCocq matchup won’t happen this year.

“We just couldn’t work it out on the schedule,” Harrington said.

Cox and LeCocq lead a strong contingent of pitchers in the region.

Others include sisters Kathryn and Meredith Nevard of Camarillo, Meredith Cervenka and Melinda Moulden of Crescenta Valley, Cori Herbert of Hoover, Brittney Green of Simi Valley, Amy Rosson of Calabasas, Ashley Redlin of El Camino Real and Amanda Fortune of Hart.

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Softball Top 10

Pre-season rankings of regional high schools by The Times’ sportswriters

Rk Team (League) ’98 record

1. Quartz Hill (Golden) 24-3-2

2. Newbury Park (Marmonte) 19-9

3. Highland (Golden) 24-6

4. Crescenta Valley (Pacific) 24-6

5. Chaminade (Mission) 22-8-1

6. Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 18-8-1

7. La Reina (Tri-Valley) 25-3

8. Camarillo (Pacific View) 21-6