The Associated Press UCLA assistant softball coach
Lisa Fernandez tosses fastballs at Japanese
batters during the women’s softball game Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the
Olympics in Sydney.
By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It’s possible the U.S. softball team would have won the
gold without Lisa Fernandez. But not likely.
At the Olympic games this summer, whenever there was a must-win
game, everybody knew who would take the mound for the American
squad ““ the best softball player in the world, the one
who’s already won two NCAA Championships, one International
Softball Federation title and an Olympic gold medal from
Atlanta.
“I was ready,” Fernandez said. “For
whatever.”
“Whatever” turned out to be eerily familiar in
Fernandez’s first appearance. U.S. head coach Ralph Raymond
drew up the pitching match-ups before the tournament, making sure
that his star pitcher would be in the circle against the hometown
Aussies. Before the tournament, they were the biggest threat to
dethroning the defending Olympic champions.
But, that wasn’t the only reason for picking Fernandez to
pitch in the crucial game. Back in Atlanta in ’96, the United
States’ only loss was a 10-inning battle against the
Australians.
In that game, Fernandez had a perfect game through almost 9
innings. Then, former UCLA teammate and current Aussie Joanne
Brown, with one swing of the bat, ended the game with a home
run.
“That defeat stung,” Fernandez said. “It stuck
with me.”
Team USA went on to win the next three games and the gold medal
game against China, but the loss to Australia was never
forgotten.
On Oct. 21, 2000, in the middle of Olympic play, and as the U.S.
was riding a stunning two-game losing streak, the situation was
almost identical. Fernandez was pitching masterfully, but the
offense could not touch Australia pitcher Tanya Harding (another
former Bruin). The game again went into extra innings, where
Fernandez set an Olympic record with 25 strikeouts.
Christie Ambrosi singled home Team USA’s only run in the
13th inning.
The perpetually rowdy crowd quieted, expecting Fernandez to
strike out the side in the Aussie’s next at bat, as she had
done the inning before, to end the game.
With one out, Fernandez went up against Brown again. The
Australian crowd remembered ’96 and let Fernandez know,
raising the decibel level a few notches.
Fernandez induced a ground-out from Brown, but on the
Aussies’ next at-bat, Peta Edebone ended the game with a
two-out homer and provided a tough dose of mortality for the
world’s best player.
“I made two mistakes the whole game,” Fernandez said
afterwards, almost in tears. “That one was a drop ball that
didn’t drop.”
Two days later, in a game the U.S. had to win to make the medal
round, Fernandez not only pitched the win but broke out of a slump
at the plate, knocking her first home run of the tournament.
Another two days later, with a berth in the Gold Medal game on
the line, Fernandez was again sent out.
It was another rematch with the Australians. One Aussie hit and
no runs later, Fernandez and the U.S. came away with a 1-0
victory.
Despite pitching 22 innings in four days, there was really no
other choice but for Fernandez to pitch the final game.
“How could you not? You’ve got to pitch the
best,” said UCLA head coach Sue Enquist as she watched
Fernandez warm up in the bullpen before the Gold Medal game.
Fernandez mowed down the Japanese team, allowing only one run in
eight innings.
“This gold medal was sweeter,” Fernandez said.
“The competition was so close, everything was a dogfight. In
’96, everybody was in the zone, and we were playing so well.
It meant more with the close games.”
In fact, after the Games were over in Atlanta, Fernandez got an
anonymous postcard of a picture of Brown celebrating with her
teammates.
Despite the gold medal, that game actually changed
Fernandez’s pitching. Fernandez felt that in the 10th inning,
she was a little tired.
Vowing never to let that happen again, she embarked on a
rigorous year-long training regimen which focuses on a balanced
workout, not just an upper body one. That led to one of the
stranger sights in the Olympics.
Whenever Fernandez was on the mound, she was bouncing. Catcher
has the ball ““ bouncing. Batter steps out of the box ““
bouncing. Infield warming up ““ bouncing. The bouncing is to
help keep Fernandez fit, even if it is during the game.
That’s the kind of work it takes to be the best player in
the world.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when Fernandez became the
best player in the world, but it was probably the months leading up
to the ’96 Olympics.
While at UCLA, she accomplished a remarkable double crown. In
1993, Fernandez became the only person to lead the NCAA in ERA and
batting average in the same year.
She was a three-time Honda award winner, and as the best
collegiate softball player, won two national titles and set the
NCAA career record for winning percentage with a 93-7 record. She
also was a four-time first-team All-American, had nine no-hitters,
two perfect games and was the only softball player ever to win the
Broderick Cup as the top female collegiate athlete in all
sports.
But the 1995 Pan-American games softball roster did not include
Fernandez.
Fernandez stepped up her training, vowing to make the Olympic
team. By the time that roster was set, she was the best player in
the world, pitching the final innings of Team USA’s victory
over China in the Gold Medal game.
With the recognition gained from the Olympics, she went on
national TV to help promote the sport. Teaching major league
slugger David Justice a valuable lesson about softball was part of
that process.
“This isn’t baseball,” Justice had said. He
was right. He quickly learned that there is less time to react to a
70 mph Fernandez fastball than a 90 mph major league fastball.
Fernandez struck him out in three pitches.
In November, Fernandez will return to UCLA to begin her sixth
season as an assistant softball coach.
Coaching is something Fernandez loves, but being an instructor
for Team USA teammate and UCLA junior catcher Stacey Nuveman should
be interesting.
“We having a saying, what goes on the road, stays on the
road ““ meaning that whatever happened away from UCLA does not
factor into what happens at school. I’ll go back to being her
coach,” Fernandez said.
“The more I’m around Lisa,” Nuveman said,
“the more it’s obvious why she is the best in the
world. When she is out there, no one is going to get in her way.
She’s taught me how to think like a pitcher, have a good
rapport with a pitcher, and get into a pitcher’s
mind.”
With seven Bruins on the national team, Fernandez never ventured
far from Westwood, at least in spirit.
“I can never really decide wether I’m representing
UCLA or USA. UCLA is where my heart is, but when it’s USA,
I’m representing my country,” she said. “Having
all the people on the team from UCLA has made it a lot easier. We
got to talk about the big football wins over Alabama and Michigan
while we were in Sydney. It makes it a lot more fun.”