HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL Dream Team

Steve Virgen

With the depth and talent featured in this year’s Daily Pilot

All-Newport-Mesa Dream Team for softball, it seems only fitting that

the Player of the Year honor would have to be shared.

A unique blend of young and experienced, consistent and improved

is evident in the 2004 edition of the Dream Team. Each of the 11

players selected had their own special story of success. Two of the

athletes have a story that continues for the next three years.

Standout freshmen Michelle Tolfa and Holly Van Hiel, who helped

lead Corona del Mar High to its first CIF Southern Section playoff

win, are Co-Players of the Year of the Daily Pilot All-Newport-Mesa

Dream Team.

They weren’t the only first-time Dream Teamers selected, as Corona

del Mar’s Sarah Stern, Heather Lohrman and Allie Duernberger, along

with Costa Mesa’s Jackie Butler, Michelle Miller and Uyen Mai, as

well as Newport Harbor’s Julianne Bass, also make their debuts on the

annual All-Newport-Mesa squad.

Newport Harbor junior Ashley Gleason and Costa Mesa senior Jane-E

Yamamoto are the lone repeat honorees, both making their third

appearances on the Dream Team.

Tolfa and Van Hiel, pitchers for the Sea Kings, were instrumental

in leading Corona del Mar to a momentous season that included a wild

run to the CIF Division IV playoffs.

The Sea Kings’ playoff hopes were on the line in three games

during the final week of the regular season. They defeated Calvary

Chapel, 1-0, in 11 innings, which helped CdM move into third place in

the Pacific Coast League.

Van Hiel delivered an RBI double in the bottom of the 11th inning,

while Tolfa tossed a complete-game shutout, that included six

strikeouts and one walk.

Corona del Mar beat University, 3-1, to set up a third-place

playoff against Calvary Chapel. This time the Sea Kings defeated the

Eagles, 7-6, in 11 innings. Tolfa struck out three, allowed eight

hits and walked two in 6 1/3 innings, while Van Hiel went 4 2/3

innings, allowing two hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Tolfa pitched the first 5 2/3 innings and then came on to get the

final two outs in the bottom of the eleventh after Calvary had scored

once and loaded the bases.

“I like being the pitcher and I like having all the pressure,”

Tolfa said when she was named Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week for

being awarded MVP of the Garden Grove tournament that the Sea Kings

won May 1.

Before the season began Corona del Mar Coach Nichole Thompson,

proved to be prophetic, as she said Tolfa and Van Hiel would be key

contributors for her team.

Tolfa, who played the outfield when not pitching, finished the

season with a 1.93 ERA in 91 innings. She recorded a team-high 92

strikeouts and compiled a 7-5 record with one save.

At the plate, she was second on the team with a .311 batting

average. She also had 15 RBIs. She collected first-team All-PCL

honors and was named Co-MVP of the Sea Kings, along with Stern.

Tolfa no-hit Connelly with 13 strikeouts in the Garden Grove

tournament April 24.

Van Hiel, who also played the outfield when she did not pitch,

tossed three no-hitters and compiled a 1.11 ERA in 69 innings. She

recorded 87 strikeouts and finished with a 9-3 record with one save.

At the plate, Van Hiel batted .297 with 13 RBIs.

Van Hiel, a first-team, all-league honoree, was named the Sea

Kings’ Offensive Player of the Year. She went 4 for 4 in helping lead

the Sea Kings to their first CIF playoff victory, a 5-2 win over Mary

Star of the Sea in a wild card game of the Division IV playoffs.

Gleason was Newport Harbor’s MVP this season. The Sailors’ primary

pitcher collected first-team, All-Sea View League honors. She had a

.120 ERA in 128 1/3 innings. She recorded 120 strikeouts and finished

with a 6-13 record.

Gleason also led the team in batting, with a .321 average. She

contributed eight RBIs. When she did not pitch she played third base.

Yamamoto proved to be versatile for the Costa Mesa Mustangs. She

played second base, and also filled in at shortstop because her

teammate, Kelly Topps, suffered various injuries.

Yamamoto, who will attend Cal State Fullerton next year and plans

to eventually become an elementary school teacher, finished the

season with a .378 batting average and earned first-team All-Golden

West League honors.

Mai, an outfielder, enjoyed a breakout season for the Mustangs in

her senior year. She led Costa Mesa with a .474 batting average and

received first-team all-league recognition. Mustang Coach Sharon Uhl

called Mai, her best player.

Mai, whose first name is pronounced, “win,” will play at Santa Ana

College next year.

Miller, a senior catcher, will join Mai at Santa Ana College next

year. Miller, one of three catchers on the Daily Pilot Dream Team,

was a steady force, defensively, for the Mustangs. At the plate, she

was solid, batting .333 with five runs and four RBIs.

She earned first-team all-league honors.

Bass, a junior catcher for the Sailors, gave Newport Harbor and

Gleason stability with her consistency behind the plate. She also

batted .282 with nine RBIs on her way to second-team All-Sea View

League laurels.

Stern, a senior catcher for the Sea Kings, earned first-team

All-PCL recognition. A team captain, Stern led the squad with 17

RBIs. She also finished with a .288 batting average and a

team-leading eight doubles.

Stern will continue her softball career at Bowdoin College in

Maine. The Polar Bears compete in NCAA Division II. Stern plans to

assist with the Corona del Mar girls basketball summer program until

she leaves for school Aug. 16.

Butler, a junior for the Mustangs, was one of the top pitchers in

the Golden West League and the Newport-Mesa area. Butler, a

first-team, all-league honoree, finished the season with a 1.12 ERA

in 79 innings. She recorded 69 strikeouts.

Lohrman, a junior outfielder, was cool in the clutch for the Sea

Kings. She scored the winning run, coming home from first base in the

Sea Kings’ 1-0, 11-inning win over Calvary Chapel. Lohrman, who plays

on the same travel team as Bass, led Corona del Mar with a .342

batting average, including a team-high three triples.

Lohrman collected second team All-PCL honors.

Duernberger, a freshman second baseman, plans to provide strength

and talent for Thompson’s team next year. Duernberger started her

season in the outfield, but Thompson moved her to second base and it

paid off, as she contributed her consistency to the Sea Kings.

Duernberger, an all-league second-teamer, was second on Corona del

Mar with 16 RBIs. She also hit .308.