Injury-Prone Canyon Needs a No-Slide Rule

Every time one of his players slides, Canyon High Coach Lance Eddy winces just a little. Eddy knows too well how fragile the human body is, especially the knees.

He’s keeping his fingers crossed that 2000 isn’t anything like 1999, when his players seemed to be dropping at every turn.

“I’ve never had one player with a knee injury, and to have three or four?” Eddy said. “[Freshman] Ashley Becker slid into second base in our scrimmage, and she didn’t get up right away and I thought, ‘Oh no, not again.’ Knees are scary things.”

Becker got up, and the good news is that Wendy Takehara, Megan Welch and Amber Boeg are back at full strength, providing Eddy with more depth than he is accustomed to. “It’s a good problem to have,” Eddy said.

Takehara was Canyon’s starting third baseman as a sophomore. She missed her junior season after injuring her knee playing basketball.

Welch, a sophomore whose best position is shortstop, probably would have started for the Comanches as a freshman. She was sidelined a year ago by surgery to remove calcium deposits under her kneecaps.

Boeg’s injury wasn’t season-ending, but it was season-changing.

She missed five games after straining her knee. When she returned, she wasn’t at full strength, only about 75% according to Eddy.

All the healthy players, combined with a strong class of sophomores, figure to make the Comanches one of the county’s better teams once they gel. Another sophomore, Ashley Stewart, transferred to Canyon after batting cleanup last season for El Modena.

“Our lineup is so packed I don’t know where she will fit in,” Eddy joked. “Nice problem.”

AROUND THE BASES

* Savanna won both games of a doubleheader Saturday against Santa Ana Valley--stealing victory in the bottom of the seventh both times. The Rebels won, 8-7 and 3-2, on RBIs by a pair of sophomores. Anjanee Goberdhan and Michelle Lopez each had game-winning singles.

* Loara and Sonora have been impressive so far. Alicia Owen, pitched a perfect game for Loara (10-1) Saturday against Carson. Sonora is unbeaten in eight games behind the pitching of Andee Lindgren and Carrie Wisen.

* Loara defeated Rosary to win the Moreno Valley Valley View title on Saturday, but the real stunner came when Rosary defeated defending Division I champion Valley View, 2-1, and its pitcher, Keira Goerl, in a semifinal on Samantha Jennings’ seventh-inning single--the only hit for the Royals.

* Unranked Irvine also had an impressive week, beating two ranked teams, Laguna Hills and Marina, to win the Saddleback Valley tournament.

LOOKING AHEAD

Kennedy, on the short end of a 15-inning, 2-1 loss one week ago to Pacifica, could get locked into another outstanding contest today against Rosary at Lions Field in Fullerton.

Another interesting game today pits two of last season’s best pitchers, Mater Dei’s Tia Bollinger against Lindgren at Sonora.

If you have an item or idea for the prep softball report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail martin.henderson@latimes.com