Missing Piece a Puzzle

THOUSAND OAKS —  In four years with the Cal Lutheran softball team, Heidi Stevens has won 52 games as a pitcher, including 20 by shutout, hit more home runs and collected more runs batted in than any other player in school history.

Any day now, when the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announces its selection for player of the year, it will probably be Stevens--for the third time.

But for all Stevens has done, one accomplishment has eluded her:

A postseason victory.

Cal Lutheran is 0-4 in the playoffs during Stevens’ tenure, losing two games in both 1993 and ’95. Stevens was the pitcher of record in two of those losses.

“It just makes me want it more, it really does,” said Stevens, who leads the 13th-ranked Regals (31-4) against host team Simpson College (26-8) today in a first-round NCAA Division III regional game at 10 a.m. in Indianola, Iowa. Buena Vista (26-11) and Central College (27-13), both of Iowa, meet in the regional’s other game.

But while Stevens is anxious to snap Cal Lutheran’s postseason jinx, she can’t help but fixate on the Regals’ more immediate troubles. After posting a 31-1 record, Cal Lutheran has lost three of four, with Stevens (14-3) taking two of the losses.

a “Basically, these last two weeks, everything that could go wrong, did,” Stevens said.

After walking only 19 batters in 15 starts, Stevens has issued 14 in her last two starts, against Chapman and Azusa Pacific. In her last 12 innings, Stevens has allowed nine earned runs, doubling her once microscopic earned-run average to 1.00. In her first 93 innings, she allowed only six earned runs.

“I’ve been walking a lot of people and that’s not me at all,” Stevens said.

Although Chapman, the defending national champion, and Azusa Pacific are the most-formidable opponents Stevens has faced this season, she insists her poor performances were the result of off-the-field pressure.

“These past two weeks have been real jam-packed with finals and school and everything,” Stevens said. “It’s been real stressful. I haven’t done well in the last two games so I’m really hoping to come back during regionals.”

When Stevens plays true to form she is extraordinary--both pitching and hitting. She leads the Regals with a batting average of .500 and 61 runs batted in. This season she has set school career records with 21 home runs and 176 RBIs. Her next hit will be No. 205, establishing her as the school’s all-time hit leader.

Her 68 career complete games are second on the Cal Lutheran all-time list and she is tied for second in shutouts and victories.

“Every year I’ve gotten better,” Stevens said. “But I still don’t have that go-out-there-and-kill-everyone attitude. These guys think of me as a silent leader because I go out there and do my job and do it well.”

A 6-foot right-hander, Stevens might have lost that killer instinct at Sprague High in Salem, Ore.

Stevens never pitched for Sprague. She was the designated hitter. A pitcher who relies on her curveball and screwball, She took that as a slap in the face.

“High school was a humbling experience,” Stevens said. “It made me not take things so seriously. I mean, I used to take it pretty seriously.”

Her change of attitude brought her to Cal Lutheran. Stevens decided to follow in the footsteps of her sister, Leslie, who pitched for the Regals from 1987 to 1991.

Stevens wanted to get away from the rainy weather of Oregon and strive for a life beyond softball. She has found it at Cal Lutheran, where she is heavily involved with the Christian Fellowship of Student-Athletes and does volunteer work at the YMCA in Moorpark.

Although she is looking forward to a life outside of competition, she would like nothing more than to finish on a winning note.

“I don’t want to travel all that way like we did last year because it was so disappointing,” she said. “We had a good team last year and this year it’s even better.”