Bringing Their Best

It’s her presence.

That’s what one notices about Jaime Clark, the extraordinary shortstop for Foothill High.

The way she moves while gliding across the field, or carries herself while doing the ordinary. The things she says while leading her teammates, or the bat she swings with such confidence.

It is no accident that Clark batted .524 this season with runners in scoring position. Clutch players do that, raise their batting average more than a hundred points when the game is on the line.

During a season when three players distinguished themselves as the class of Orange County, Clark performed at the highest level, against the highest competition, probably under the highest degree of scrutiny. Thirty-nine percent of the runs scored by Foothill were directly related to Clark, who batted third in the order. For providing the leadership--and the goods--to lift Foothill to the top of the county rankings, she is The Times Orange County Player of the Year.

She may well have been the comeback player of the year, too. Clark broke a school record with 31 runs batted in as a freshman, followed it with 32 as a sophomore.

But she had only six RBIs as a junior, a frustratingly inconsistent season in which she occasionally batted leadoff, occasionally batted like a mere mortal, .259 overall, .208 in the clutch.

“It absolutely refueled my fire for this season,” Clark said 3 1/2 months ago.

So it is under those circumstances that Clark showed the fortitude with which she plays the game, the essence of competitive spirit. Her junior season behind her, she had an opportunity to make amends.

“She’s a great example for players who struggle,” Aliso Niguel Coach Joe Miller said.

Terry Orabona, softball coach at Santa Ana Valley and president of the Orange County Athletic Directors Assn., did a most unusual thing after the Falcons’ final game against Foothill. She asked Clark for two autographed softballs, one for herself, one for her office.

“I’ve never asked for an autograph of a player--I just can’t imagine doing that,” said Foothill assistant Mike Gonzalez. “But it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea, at least with some of the kids we run into.”

Kids like Mater Dei’s Marissa Young and Woodbridge’s Natasha Watley, who might eventually get asked for autographs while playing in the Olympics or for an NCAA title. Clark, for one, is a member of the U.S. Junior National team.

“Jaime is a really special player, and I think she will go on to even more great things,” Gonzalez said. “When people play with or against Jaime, they have to respect her. She left a lasting impression on her teammates, I know that much, and apparently the people she played against.

“But that thing at Santa Ana Valley--that’s the ultimate compliment.”

Foothill finished 29-4, playing a typically tough schedule. Clark batted .423, was 12 for 12 trying to steal, and scored a team-high 21 runs.

She’s not a little slap hitter, either. Clark swings away, and hit 16 doubles, two triples and three home runs--an extra-base hit two out of every three games--while compiling a slugging percentage of .722. She got on base 51.9% of the time, even more than the Knights’ leadoff batter.

Her fielding average was .929, and it was her best year defensively. Strong-armed and quick, Clark is one of the reasons opponents batted only .083 against Foothill pitchers Courtney Fossatti and Elizabeth Bendig.

The last player of the year who wasn’t a pitcher was Woodbridge center fielder Alison Johnsen in 1994. She went to Arizona, won two national titles and was a three-time All-American. Clark is going to Washington, this season’s NCAA runner-up.

“Clark’s not as fast as Johnsen, who could kill you on the bases,” said El Toro Coach Jim Daugherty, “but she’s in that class of ballplayer. Physically, for her position, she’s dominating because of her size (5 feet 11 inches), her quick feet and her aptitude.

“She’s playing a demanding position. She’s a leader. She’s been a leader since she was a freshman, in a quiet way at that point. But now she’s a leader vocally, as well as by example. You can see that.’

When Lauren Schwendimann injured her shoulder and Eryn Manahan needed knee surgery, Clark was the only senior on the field much of the season.

“Despite what happened to us in the last game [a perfect game loss to section champion Moreno Valley Valley View], we were one of the top teams in the country and that’s largely because of [Clark’s] contribution,” Gonzalez said. “She drove in the runs, she got the key hits, she stole the bases, it was her best year defensively.

“She took a bunch of young kids and threw them on her back and carried them.”