By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
CHINO HILLS ““ Like every other softball team that has
played against Team USA on their “Central Park to
Sydney” pre-Olympic tour, the Southern California All-Stars
could not notch a victory.
The All-Stars, featuring some of the best college players in the
country, ran into the brick wall that U.S. pitching has become this
summer. The U.S. has allowed only four runs in over 300 innings.
SoCal did, however, become only the fourth team in 57 games to
score a run against Team USA.
The pair of doubleheaders featured a total of nine past, current
and future Bruins. Alumni Sheila Cornell-Douty (’84), Dr. Dot
Richardson (’83), Lisa Fernandez (’93), Jennifer
Brundage (’95) and Christie Ambrosi (’99) join current
Bruin juniors Stacey Nuveman and Amanda Freed on the National Team,
while sophomore Natasha Watley and incoming freshman pitcher Kiera
Goerl played for the All-Stars.
Pitcher Lori Harrigan proved to be only the opening act for team
USA in the first game Friday night. Harrigan shut down SoCal in the
U.S.’s 6-0 victory, but the tension came when Lisa Fernandez
took the mound in the second game.
Coming into the game, Fernandez had a streak of five consecutive
perfect games and 37 straight perfect innings. In her last
appearance, she had a perfect perfect game, striking out all 21
batters she faced. Fernandez retired 111 straight batters,
including striking out the first 10 in Chino before walking 2000
NCAA home-run champion Jenny Topping. Fernandez had 33 consecutive
strikeouts before Nicole Thompson grounded out to short in the
fourth inning.
“This is as well as I’ve pitched in my entire
life,” Fernandez said. “My confidence level is way up,
more than it was in Atlanta (before the 1996 Olympics). I’ve
been working on throwing my riseball, and the drop, mixing up the
two.”
Team USA won Friday’s second game 3-0.
Fernandez has been dominating since the tour began June 2. She
has six perfect games and a current streak of six consecutive
no-hitters and 134 hitless batters. She has also struck out 162
batters while walking only two in 67 innings, and has not allowed a
single run on the tour.
In the first game Saturday, Freed took the circle for Team USA,
allowing one hit and no runs in four innings. She took a shot off
the right knee in the third inning, but stayed in the game.
“Playing 60 games over the summer right after playing 60
in the college season is kind of tough,” said Freed, who
joined the tour immediately after she finished spring quarter
finals. “But it’s so much fun playing you don’t
think about it.”
“I’m still adjusting to the 40 feet (as compared to
the pitching distance of 43 feet in college),” she added.
“You have to change where the ball breaks.”
The All-Stars lost Saturday’s first game 3-0, but saved
their best for last. In the fourth game of the series, the
All-Stars sent out just-graduated Oregon State star Tarrah Beyster
to square off against Christa Williams. SoCal finally plated a run
in the seventh inning when incoming Arizona freshman Kim Balkan
singled home Thompson.
USA, however, had already pushed two runs across, the first on a
Fernandez triple followed by a Brundage double in the fourth
inning, and the second an inning later on Teri
Klement-Goldberg’s solo home run to left. The National team
won the last game 2-1.
Pitching in her last major local performance before becoming a
collegian was Goerl, who threw a total of four innings in the two
Friday games.
Goerl, who has lots of international experience with the Junior
Olympic team, had a simple answer when asked why she chose
UCLA.
“How could I not?” she said.
Despite UCLA’s depth at pitching with Freed, Courtney Dale
and Stephanie Swenson, Goerl is confident she will play.
“I’m not going to redshirt. I’m a pitcher, and
I’m going to pitch,” she said.
Freed, who has played against Goerl before, agreed that Goerl is
talented.
“She throws a real heavy ball, and her location is good,
she hits her spots,” Freed said.
The game was also a semi-homecoming for many of the Team USA
players who hail from Southern California.
“It’s good to be back home. We haven’t gotten
a chance to play in front of our families and friends for a long
time,” Cornell-Douty said.
Ambrosi echoed the sentiment.
“After 60 games, it’s good to be back here. They
missed (my home state of) Kansas, so this was the closest I got to
home.”
Ambrosi has decided that she will begin her acting career in Los
Angeles when she returns from the Sydney.
This was the final game of the National Team’s pre-Olympic
tour before they head out to Hawaii to face off against the WPSL
All-Stars Sept. 2 and 3. After Hawaii, the team will head for the
Sydney and the 2000 Olympics. USA is favored to repeat as gold
medalists, but will face stiff competition from their arch-rival
and the hometown favorite Aussies.
Australia also features two former Bruins on their roster, Tanya
Harding and Kerry Dienelt.