UCLA-Cal Game to Feature 2 Top Pitchers

Lisa Fernandez of UCLA and Michele Granger of Cal, arguably two of the nation’s two best softball pitchers, are scheduled to pitch against each other Saturday when the top-ranked Bruins play host to the No. 4 Bears in a Pacific 10 Conference women’s softball doubleheader at 1 p.m.

Fernandez, a junior, is 18-0 with a 0.22 earned-run average and 158 strikeouts in 130 innings.

Granger, a junior, is 21-7 with a 0.72 ERA. She has led the nation in strikeouts the past two years and has 222 strikeouts in 184 1/3 innings this season.

Granger is one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers in NCAA history. She ranks third on the NCAA all-time list with 1,049.

Granger doesn’t fool batters by mixing up pitches or changing speeds. Her formula for success is simple: She throws a fastball that starts at the knees and rises to chest level.

“I’m the type pitcher that goes right after you,” Granger said. “If you hit me, you hit me. I’m not much into funny stuff. I don’t try to trick the batter. I don’t have a great changeup. I don’t have a lot of drop. I throw a rise and a curve. Sometimes they beat me and sometimes they don’t.”

Recently, Granger has been nearly perfect. Last week she pitched a perfect game against St. Mary’s and a no-hitter against Santa Clara. She has 63 shutouts to rank fifth on the NCAA all-time list and needs three more to pass Debbie Doom of UCLA.

In a doubleheader April 11 at Berkeley, the Bruins (42-1, 11-1 in the Pac-10) swept a doubleheader from the Bears, 1-0 and 3-1. Granger lost the first game as the Bears stranded 11 runners against Bruin pitcher Dede Weiman. Fernandez outpitched Robyn Burgess in the second game.

“You’re lucky to get one chance (to score) against UCLA,” Granger said.

Add softball--Fernandez and Granger have had comparable statistics since high school. The pitchers are listed among the top five in nearly every Southern Section record.

Fernandez, who attended St. Joseph High in Lakewood, holds Southern Section career records for most shutouts (69), no-hitters (37) and lowest ERA (0.07).

Granger, who attended Valencia High in Placentia, holds Southern Section records for most strikeouts in a season (509) and most career strikeouts (1,635). Fernandez is second in both categories at 467 and 1,503.

Granger also is second in career no-hitters (36), no-hitters in a season (11), consecutive no-hitters (four), ERA (0.10), consecutive strikeouts in a seven-inning game (21) and consecutive strikeouts (21). Blenda Selvey of Chaffey High had 22 strikeouts in a seven-inning game in 1983 because her catcher dropped a third strike, allowing a batter to reach first.

Back in the swing of things--Although UCLA senior Mamie Ceniza suffered a shoulder injury three years ago that sapped some of the power in her strokes, she has adjusted her game to become the Bruins’ top singles tennis player.

“Mamie has been our team captain, our leader, our heart and soul,” Bruin Coach Bill Zaima said. “She has overcome a lot of physical adversity. We wouldn’t have had the same success the past three years without her.”

Ceniza, a three-time All-American, is one of the top collegiate players and a favorite to win a title when the Pacific 10 Southern Division Individual Tennis Championships begin tody at Libbey Park in Ojai.

Ceniza suffered a partial dislocation of her shoulder while playing a singles match against Stanford in 1990 and did not compete for six months.

“I tore some muscles around the shoulder and my arm was slipping out of the shoulder socket,” Ceniza said. “It wasn’t a piercing pain. It was more like a general soreness. I didn’t want to move my arm.

“My shoulder still gets tired especially after I’ve played a series of long matches. But I feel pretty good.”

The injury may have helped her become a better player.

“My footwork is better,” Ceniza said. “My forehand is a lot better. My backhand is a lot better.”

Ceniza still depends more on her speed and strength than consistency when hitting her strokes.

“She’s not a tennis machine like (Monica) Seles,” Zaima said. “She doesn’t have perfect tennis strokes. She’s more a Zina Garrison. She is fast and has great athletic ability. She has an excellent serve, but because of her shoulder injury, she has to pick and choose her spots when she makes a big serve.

“She’s probably got the best volley in college tennis and she’s one of the finest doubles players in the country.”

Ceniza and partner Iwalani McCalla reached the championship match of last year’s Pac-10 finals but were defeated by teammates Stella Sampras and Kimberly Po. In singles, Ceniza lost in the quarterfinals.

Ceniza, ranked sixth in the nation, will play only singles in this week’s tournament because McCalla has returned to Hawaii for personal reasons.

Ceniza is not disappointed to be playing only singles.

“It’s better for my shoulder to just play singles,” Ceniza said. “I wanted to concentrate on singles.”

After completing the collegiate season, Ceniza will earn a degree in psychology this spring and plans to join the professional tour.

Getting back in shape--Robin Snowbeck of University High finished eighth in the 800 meters last week at the Mt. San Antonio College relays. The previous week, Snowbeck was a late scratch in the 1,600 meters at the Arcadia Invitational.

Last season Snowbeck ran 4 minutes 38.47 seconds to win the 1,500 meters at Mt. SAC.

Snowbeck, however, wasn’t disappointed with her time of 2:18.9 and eighth-place finish.

“It’s OK,” said Snowbeck, who has been suffering from a cold. “Personally, I haven’t been running in three weeks and I’m starting to get back into shape.

“Last year, I think I peaked too soon and this may work to my advantage.”

Snowbeck’s training schedule also has been interrupted by the college recruiting process that demanded more time and energy than she could afford. She signed with Wisconsin last week.

“The track season has started, but it’s not over,” Snowbeck said. “I still have a lot of things to do and accomplish. In a way, I’m just getting started.”

If she qualifies, her last big meet will be the state finals where she finished sixth in the mile in 1991.

“My goals. . . I want to make the state meet, improve my time and improve my finish,” she said. “I need to work harder, get lots of rest and stay focused from this point on.”

Snowbeck will be competing in her last dual meet today at Westchester. Then she will start training for the city and state finals.

No spring vacation--While many of their classmates were on spring vacation, the Beverly Hills High baseball team was playing in the Atascadero tournament, where it lost to Paso Robles, 12-2, in the championship game.

“We played real well in the second game, and not all that well in the other two games,” Coach Bill Erickson said. “There were a lot of distractions from being away. It was good in a team-sense because there was a lot of interaction between young guys and the older guys.”

The Normans (10-6, 4-2 in Ocean League play) are taking another week off from league play.

Erickson, whose team lost to Redondo, 3-1, on April 10, is predicting a tough Ocean League race.

“I think it’s going to come down to last inning of the last game,” Erickson said. “There’s not a whole lot of difference between us, Mira Costa, Culver City and Redondo.”

Reunion time--Beverly Hills High will play host to its annual alumni baseball game Sunday. Batting practice begins at 10 a.m. with the game scheduled to start at noon.

About 40 players ranging from Chuck Little, a 1933 alumnus, to members of the class of 1985 are expected.

Broadway Bound--It didn’t take long for the New York Mets to summon Rodney McCray from triple-A Tidewater.

The former University High and West Los Angeles College standout was recalled April 15 after shortstop Kevin Elster went on the 15-day disabled list.

McCray, an outfielder, is expected to be used primarily as a pinch-runner and late-inning defensive replacement.

“The only thing keeping that kid from staying in the (big leagues) and kicking butt is he’s got to prove he can hit,” Met hitting coach Tom McCraw said.

McCray, 28, who hit .133 in 49 with the Chicago White Sox in 1990-91, has never batted higher than .265 in eight seasons in the minors.

Staff Writer Steven Herbert contributed to this notebook.