50-0
-- Ferndale softball tem is the best on the North Coast
Mike
Morrow The Times-Standard
Sunday,
May 23, 2004 -
FERNDALE --
Jackie Miranda doesn't like to lose -- at anything.
Neither do her
cousins, Felicia and Haily.
Then again,
they don't lose too often.
Eek, Jackie
says of the thought.
The Mirandas
are key players in the continuing hit series that is Ferndale High School
softball.
"Winning
is something we've learned -- it takes a lot of hard work," said Jackie, a
senior pitcher.
A year ago,
Ferndale won all 25 of its games, winning the North Coast Section championship;
this year, the Wildcats completed its regular-season schedule with 25 wins in
25 games and will begin NCS playoffs with a 50-game winning streak.
According to
Cal-Hi Prep, a Bay Area-based service that chronicles such matters, Ferndale's
winning streak is the longest among California high school softball teams.
"To be
honest, we don't talk about (the winning streak)," said Tom Jorgensen, who
shares coaching responsibilities with Mike Griffith.
Still, the
streak has caused some heads to shake.
"It's
pretty amazing," said team supporter Russ Killingsworth. "I've
followed other sports, but I never really paid much attention to softball until
my daughter (Cari) started to play the sport. And you know, this team is pretty
good."
For the
record, Ferndale has had four consecutive 12-0 conference seasons and five in
the last seven years. Since 1998, the team is 154-23, winning two NCS Class-A
championships (1999 and 2003) and advancing to the second round three times.
The team had
outscored its first 23 opponents by 192-20; a year ago, the Wildcats outscored
25 opponents 245-22.
"I
remember the last game we lost -- to Holy Names in the second round of the
(2002) playoffs," said Jackie Miranda. "I cried when the game was
over. I just didn't want (losing) to happen again."
Of course, she
couldn't have expected this, either.
"All we
really want to do is have fun," she said. "No, there's no pressure.
As long as we have fun."
Anyone with
any knowledge of the intricacies involved with baseball or softball could
appreciate the Ferndale team. It's a team for individuals who enjoy a game
that's played the way it's supposed to be played, for those who like to watch
the hit and run, the bunt, a runner taking the extra base, the double play.
"One
thing," said Russ Killingsworth, "is that these girls are so well
coached. From the time they started playing youth sports, the coaches have
taught them the fundamentals and how to play. You've got to give a lot of the
credit to people like Tim Miranda (a youth league coach) and, of course, Tom
(Jorgensen) and Mike Griffith."
Most people
point to Miranda for giving many of the girls their introduction to softball in
the Fortuna-Ferndale youth program.
Miranda is
Felicia and Haily's dad, Jackie's uncle, and also uncle to Brittany and Lauren,
freshmen members of the Ferndale team whose brother Lucas plays for the
Ferndale baseball team.
"I'd say
he's had a lot to do with it," Jackie said.
"He was
there for us when we were young," Haily said.
Ferndale
youngsters begin their youth experience between the ages of 7-9, working their
way up through the age-group program.
Of course,
it's not been a totally win-win situation for members of the Ferndale softball
team.
"Not at
all," said Jackie, admitting that learning from a loss can be as much of a
positive experience as learning from a win, maybe even more so.
"A team
like Ferndale learns from its mistakes," said Steve Fry, the softball
coach at South Fork High. "Good teams do that, though."
Lou and Debbie
Cook say their daughter Laci, the Ferndale center fielder, has carried the
memory of a youth league experience with her, a memory they believe provides
motivation to many of the team's players.
"She was
on an 11-12 team that lost a tournament game they should have won," Lou
said. "That experience taught them how to win. Two years later, they
played that same team, beat it twice and won that tournament. Those girls are
the nucleus of this team and you can see they know how to win."
Stephanie DeMarzi,
the team's standout catcher, said, "We've had some close games that we
could have lost, but we didn't."
There were a
weekend series of games in the Arcata Tournament, matchups that included
Arcata, Eureka, Del Norte and McKinleyville, games that "showed us that we
could compete," according to Haily Miranda.
Those games
also brought the team closer together, she said.
"Yeah,
Felicia kissed me," Haily said. "We had some really close games and I
was getting really tired, but she was there for me. She scored the winning run
against McKinleyville and the winning run against Eureka and then she said,
'Haily, you be our workhorse' when we played Del Norte."
The Wildcats
won that game, too, and the sisters met near the team's sideline for a big hug.
But there were hugs everywhere.
It could have
been a difficult experience, but it wasn't, said Haily, who was used to being
the workhorse, having pitched 4 1/2 games in one day in a tournament in
Spokane.
It all goes
back to that youth league experience, some say, learning to overcome those
natural feelings of uncertainty.
The Cooks,
owners of Deb's Bark Avenue, a salon for dogs in Fortuna, usually watch games
from an out-of-the-way location, not behind home plate where many parents
assemble. They like the solitude and being able to talk among themselves.
For Laci, the
youth league program began at age 9; for the others, it was at age 7. They've
all played for the Phillies or the Marlins or the Rockies, for Tim or Rob
Miranda, for Debbie DeMarzi and Gina Sarvinski.
"We
didn't play T-ball," said Felicia Miranda. "We played 'coach
pitch.'"
"Our
coaches," said Haily Miranda, "were never just about winning. We all
had so much fun, that's why we all liked to play." And, she says, their
teams never did win all their games.
Over the
years, of course, the friendships have grown, not only friendships among their
teammates but also among players from other teams.
Said JoAnn
Garber:
"I know
my girls (twins Carrissa and Cailin) were on the opposite team from Haily and
Felicia, and that our games went back and forth, back and forth. But no matter
what happened, Tim was right there, helping one of the girls on our team. He
was just getting them prepared for the next level of play."
And, said
JoAnn, "I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Griffith isn't out looking at 11-
and 12-year-olds as we speak."
In addition to
the obvious development of their athletic skills, Carrissa and Cailin have had
the opportunity "to make so many friends," their mother says.
"We live
in a small community," she said. "Every one of these teams works hard
and I know our girls work hard, but no one ever gloats after a game because
they've all got friends on the other team. These girls have played together or
against one another for a long time. They all pull for one another."
Like the time,
Felicia said, when Ferndale was playing Del Norte, the No. 1 team in the Big
Five Conference, and she found herself starting to cheer for Petra Lorenzi, the
Del Norte pitcher, one of her close friends.
"I was
saying things like, 'Hey, Petey' and 'Hey, Petey Pablo,'" Felicia said.
"I don't think anyone heard me, though."
There is
cheering for the Ferndale team, too, for freshman first baseman Jenna Miller,
for freshman infielder Chelsea Boynton, outfielder Cari Killingsworth, for catcher
Stephanie DeMarzi.
"We've
got a lot of good players," said Haily Miranda.
And they all
seem to know what the game is all about.
Watching the
third baseman pick up a bunt and throw out a baserunner or the second baseman
catch a hard line drive and turn it into a double play are plays, one coach
says, the Ferndale players make look easy.
"Some of
the fundamentals," said Steve Fry, the South Fork coach, "should be
pretty basic by the time a girl gets to the varsity level, but it's not that
way. Most of the teams Ferndale plays will have a couple of good players, but
they're lacking experience. You look at Ferndale and you can see that they've
got experience, they've had good coaching. And not only that, that's a team
with talented players."
Laci Cook, who
bats behind leadoff hitter Felicia Miranda, is perhaps the team's most
consistent offensive threat. She also is its best defensive outfielder and one
of its most vocal leaders.
"You can
go right through the lineup and find someone who can make a big play,"
said Fry.
"On a
much smaller scale, of course," said one parent, "playing Ferndale is
like playing the Yankees. (Ferndale) is the team everyone wants to beat, it's
the team everyone gets up for."
"(Ferndale)
is the standard in the Humboldt-Del Norte League, both for Big Five and Little
Four schools," said Fry. "The bar has been raised, (Ferndale) has
given us all something to shoot for. You have to admire what they've
done."
The standard
is high for Ferndale football, too, and it appears the softball team is having
a significant impact on the community.
Larry Pries, a
veteran sportsman division driver at Redwood Acres raceway whose granddaughter,
Cari Killingsworth, plays the outfield for Ferndale, is a regular at Wildcat
games and one of the team's most vocal supporters.
"It's
fun, watching these girls," said Pries, who lives in Ferndale.
"They're very good and have a good time. That's the big thing -- they're
having a good time."
Team members
also are excelling in the classroom, notes Jorgensen.
Margaret
Leonardi, for example, is active in the Future Farmers of America organization,
is a regional vice president and, says Cailin Garber, "she's our Dairy
Princess."
"It's OK,
we're good friends," said Margaret.
Laci Cook,
meanwhile, is preparing for a month-long trip to Germany, spending time with
the family of a girl who spent a year with her family as a foreign exchange
student. As an eighth-grader, she was part of a Sports Ambassador People to
People program in Sweden.
"Their
youth league teams developed a can't-lose attitude ... and this helps them in
life, too," said Lou Cook. "No matter what the score, those girls
knew they could come back. The core players from that team are members of the
Ferndale varsity right now, and you can see that attitude's stayed with
them."
"My
sister and I," said Haily Miranda, "sort of feed off one another. I
don't know what we'll do next year (after Felicia graduates)."
But how long
will it continue? In 2000, Ferndale was 14-10 overall and 6-6 in the Little
Four Conference. On May 12, in fact, the Wildcats lost to Hoopa 3-0, the last
time they've been beaten in conference play.
"The
freshmen on this year's team are very athletic -- they're going to keep winning
and having fun," said Jackie.
Felicia
Miranda and Jackie Miranda are the team's only seniors.
There are six
juniors (Cook, Stephanie DeMarzi, Cailin and Carissa Garber, Haily Miranda and
Leonardi), two sophomores (Killingsworth and Emry Hope) and six freshmen (Alissa
DeMarzi, Chelsea Boynton, sisters Brittany and Lauren Miranda, Jenna Miller and
Kay Townsend).
"A high
school team that wins 48 -- or whatever it is -- games in a row just does not
happen," said JoAnn Garber. "What's happened is a compliment to the
Fortuna-Ferndale youth sports program, to the families, to the coaches and to
the players."
The players,
apparently, are there for the taking.
"Losing?"
said one. "It wouldn't devastate me, as long as we play well and have
fun."
How can they
lose with that attitude?