THE TIMES 1991 ALL-COUNTY SOFTBALL TEAM : Lisa Limp Leads Irvine to a Title in Third Year : Coach of year: She helps to turn team around after two early-season defeats to win school’s first softball championship.

Many of Irvine High School’s softball players had already left, their 1-0 victory over Foothill in the Southern Section 4-A championship game being a perfect excuse for some serious partying.

The juniors and seniors, in particular, had made a quick getaway. Their prom was already under way and their dates awaited.

But near the right-field line at Mayfair Park in Lakewood, Coach Lisa Limp waxed sentimental about her team.

“I’ve been with most of them for four years and I’ll miss the seniors,” said Limp, The Times Orange County softball coach of the year. “Even if we would have lost, they would have been winners in my book.”

The Vaqueros turned up winners in a number of scorebooks this season, Limp’s third with the varsity team after coaching the junior varsity one year.

Irvine opened the season as The Times’ No. 1-ranked team in the county. But the Vaqueros slipped a little after losing to Corona in a nonleague game and to Bellflower in the Woodbridge Tournament. Limp, however, wasn’t worried by the early defeats.

“We didn’t have Jennifer (Brundage) for the Corona game and we lost to Bellflower in 13 innings,” said Limp, who played at Kennedy High and at Cal State Long Beach. She teaches physical education and science at Irvine.

Soon after the losses Limp turned her team in the right direction. The Vaqueros breezed through their first nine South Coast League games before losing to El Toro, 3-2, in their last league game. Irvine won the league title and regained the No. 1 ranking.

And then the Vaqueros really got rolling. They began the playoffs with a 20-3 record and No. 4 seeding in the 4-A division.

With right-hander Brundage, The Times Orange County player of the year, pitching the first of her four shutouts in the playoffs, the Vaqueros made quick work of Villa Park, 5-0, in the first round. They followed with a 5-1 victory over Lakewood in the second round, a 3-0, 16-inning victory over Sunny Hills in the quarterfinals and a 2-0 victory over Fontana in the semifinals.

That led to the appearance in the championship game, the first for an Irvine softball team. Limp hopes it won’t be the last.

“I’m losing seven seniors (including Brundage), so it’s a matter of how the new players hold up,” she said.