5-A SOFTBALL : Mistake Opens the Door for Cypress

By MARK SPINN

June 7, 1992 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

LAKEWOOD —  For someone who had just pitched her team to a Southern Section softball championship, Monica Jimenez was fairly subdued.

Jimenez pitched a two-hitter and struck out 12 to lead Cypress to a 1-0 victory over Simi Valley in the Southern Section 5-A final Saturday night at Mayfair Park.

To Jimenez, however, it didn’t seem like anything special.

“It was just like any other game, just with more fans,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez’s after-game calm equaled her poise during a tense pitchers’ duel with Simi Valley’s Sara Griffin. Griffin allowed only four hits and struck out 11 and matched Jimenez goose egg for goose egg--with one key exception.

Cypress (25-5) scored the game’s only run in the fourth inning when Julie Adams scored from first on a throwing error by Simi Valley catcher Kathy Beasley. Adams reached base on a fielder’s choice and then came home when Beasley’s attempted pickoff throw sailed into right-center and rolled to the fence.

Adams, a 5-foot-9 first baseman, scored easily on the play, which didn’t surprise Jimenez.

“She’s got those long legs that can really get going,” Jimenez said. “I knew she’d make it.”

Cypress Coach Janelle Frese knew the wild pickoff throw might be the Centurions’ only chance to score against Griffin.

“You see the run coming, you have to take the opportunity,” Frese said. “This is the kind of game that comes down to who is going to make the first mistake.”

Jimenez didn’t make any mistakes, even when Simi Valley (26-3) gave her opportunities. In the top of the third, Simi Valley put runners on second and third with one out, but Jimenez responded by striking out the next two batters to end the Pioneers’ only serious scoring threat.

“I wasn’t nervous, because I’ve been in those situations before,” Jimenez said. “I knew what I had to do and I knew I had my defense behind me.”

Frese also had no fear--at least on the surface.

“I get worried when there are runners on, especially in a game like this, but as a coach, I can’t show that I’m worried,” Frese said. “(But) I’ve never seen a pitcher who has so much composure as Monica has.”

Cypress also won Southern Section championships in 1983 and 1987 while competing in Division 4-A. The Centurions entered this year’s playoffs as a wild-card team after a second-place finish in the Empire League behind Los Alamitos.

Jimenez retired the last 10 batters she faced and posted her fifth consecutive shutout.

EMPIRE LEAGUE SOFTBALL ROUNDUP : Cypress Coach Shows Up in Time for Victory

By KIM KUTCHER

April 10, 1992 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Janelle Frese, the Cypress High School softball coach, seemed relaxed before Thursday’s Empire League game against Katella.

But Frese, who missed the team bus and arrived at the field 45 minutes before the game, hid her emotions well. And so did her players, who calmly defeated Katella, 8-0, at Boysen Park.

“I was so angry,” Frese said. “I teach at another school and the bus driver didn’t pick me up there when I felt it was important for me to ride on the bus with my players after yesterday’s loss against Mater Dei.”

No. 3 Cypress (11-2, 2-0 in league) opened the scoring in the second inning when senior Kim Hutcherson, who went three for four with three runs batted in, hit a three-run home run, giving Cypress a 3-0 lead.

Sophomore Christa Saindon added a run when she scored on an error in the second to give the Centurions a 4-0 lead.

Katella (6-6-1, 0-2) had chances to score. Monica Jimenez, who pitched a one-hitter with seven strikeouts, ended a Katella threat in the fourth when she struck out Andy Gumina with runners on second and third.

In the fifth, with Cypress leading, 8-0, Katella loaded the bases, but Lauri Rossini was picked off first base.

“Monica was on her game today--she gave up maybe one solid hit,” Frese said. “Katella is a real smart hitting team, and the key for us was staying positive and being confident that the energy was there.”

PREP SOFTBALL 1992 / EMPIRE LEAGUE : Cypress

L.A. Times Archives

March 8, 1992 12 AM PT

1991 RECORDS OVERALL LEAGUE 13-8-1 6-4

COACH RECORD AT SCHOOL Janelle Frese 13-8-1

RETURNING STARTERS YR. POS. B-T Azure Calderella Jr. SS R-R Nikki Espriu So. OF R-R Candy Giampapa Jr. 3B R-R Kim Hutcherson Sr. OF R-R Monica Jimenez Jr. P S-R Liz Moore Sr. UTL L-R Christa Saindon So. 2B R-R Nina Welsch Jr. OF R-R

OTHER TOP RETURNERS YR. POS. B-T Amanda Adams So. 1B-OF L-L

TOP NEWCOMERS YR. POS. B-T Julie Adams Fr. P R-R Chrissy Kay Jr. 2B R-R Erin Prowell Jr. 1B L-L

OUTLOOK

Cypress had a heady experience in the Division 5-A playoffs last season, upsetting No. 2-seed Garden Grove in the first round before losing to eventual finalist Ventura Buena, and seven starters return to try to improve on that performance. “I think this is going to be like a pro team, everybody is going to do her job and we’ll be solid all around,” said Frese, a former standout at Kennedy High who played in college for Nebraska. Although the Centurions have lost their top pitcher--Elicia Chad, now at Utah State--to graduation, the replacement, Jimenez, was the No. 2 pitcher and she’s a hard-thrower who should be one of the best pitchers in the league. Jimenez was a first-team, all-league selection, had a 0.23 earned-run average with three no-hitters and 76 strikeouts last season. She also batted about .300. Frese says Calderella is one of the best defensive shortstops in the league. “I just can’t believe the range that girl has,” Frese said. “She won’t let anything get by her.