ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 20, 1996 TAG: 9605200104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
This time, there was no pulling Karen Stefanowicz out of the pitcher's circle.
One year after she couldn't make it out of the first inning of her Division III softball national championship loss against Chapman (Calif.), the Trenton (N.J.) State pitcher threw a complete game and threw Chapman for a 7-2 loss.
The defending champion Panthers, denied in their bid to repeat, finished the season with a 40-9 record.
``Last year I said we were going to be national champions,'' said Panthers co-head coach Janet Lloyd. ``I just felt it. This year I never said it. It's too hard to repeat.''
Stefanowicz said she worked hard to avoid a repeat of the 1995 championship. Whatever she did between then and now - which includes graduating with a degree in secondary education and getting engaged - seemed to have worked. She limited Chapman to five hits, only one after the fourth inning.
``I knew as soon as I pitched the first inning, I was staying in the whole game,'' Stefanowicz said. ``I really wanted this game to be complete.''
The Panthers, which had to beat the Lions twice to be champions, ruled out any chance for a complete game when they inserted Christy Guidorizzi for starting pitcher Jessamine Maiben in the first inning. Trenton State's first two batters got on base. Maiben gave Chapman its first run with her second home run smash in two days, but it was evident neither she nor Guidorizzi were at full strength after Saturday's 18 innings of action.
Maiben took the loss as she and Guidorizzi allowed seven earned runs, nine hits and six walks.
``I said this morning, the Chapman team we saw in Florida is not the team we're playing here,'' said Sally Miller, the Lions' coach. Chapman beat Trenton State 2-1 on March 21 in Orlando, Fla., with a fresh Guidorizzi.
Chapman, the nation's No.1-ranked team all season and the tournament's top seed, came into the championship series as the team to beat. Trenton State, however, felt that way about itself. With a new coach in Miller and having lost three All-Americans and the 1995 national player of the year, even the Lions' conference rivals were talking of their demise. The Lions just didn't hear it.
``When we had 0-0 in ballgames, we felt we were winning,'' Stefanowicz said. ``It just makes it all much sweeter because nobody thought we could do it.''
It should be noted that Trenton State (38-3) has won three of the past five national titles and has lost in the championship game the other two years. The last time the Lions won, it came on this same Moyer Sports Complex field. ``It's kind of magical,'' said Trenton State catcher Sunny Montas.
The Lions weren't about to share any of the magic with the Panthers, not after last year, when Chapman enjoyed a smooth ride through the winners' bracket. This time, the roles switched, and so did the outcome.
``They had the edge,'' said Guidorizzi.
``We were fighting for every game,'' said Lloyd. ``I don't think anybody played a bad game against us.''
Indeed, this time Stefanowicz and the Lions did the exact opposite.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: The Panthers did top the Lions in their all-tournament team selections. Trenton State's honorees were: Stefanowicz, first baseman Anita DeFeo, second baseman Christi Anthony and third baseman Amy Dorsey.
Chapman's all-tourney players were Guidorizzi, Lisa Cancilla, Maiben, catcher Kathy Donovan and outfielder Laurel Bailey.
Both at-large selections were used on pitchers, Kelly Schade of Simpson (Iowa) and Laurie Machuga of Allegheny (Pa.).
All of Chapman's all-tourney players except Bailey were repeat selections from 1995.
IOWA REUNION: Miller had to beat an old competitor and friend to reach the championship game. As a third baseman at Urbandale (Iowa) High School, Miller played against Des Moines West Dowling, coached by current Simpson College coach Henry Christowski.
Miller's Trenton (N.J.) State club beat Christowski's Storm 6-3 to advance to the championship game.
``As an opposing coach, you get to know the third baseman a lot because you stand right next to her the whole game,'' Christowski said. Christowski and Miller also sat together this weekend when their teams weren't playing.
EXPRESSING A PEFFERENCE: Allegheny (Pa.) coach Deb Peffer will find out this week the value of a softball World Series appearance. Peffer took over the Gators' program Sept.20, 1995, after Michelle Fagnant left to become head coach at Providence College.
``I'm on an interim basis right now,'' Peffer said. ``We'll see next week.''
Allegheny plans on interviewing two other candidates, but it would be difficult to bypass Peffer, a 1994 Allegheny graduate who led a 15-player roster that included nine freshmen to a national fourth-place finish.
SHORT HOPS: The NCAA Division II softball championship returns to the Moyer Complex in 1997 and Division III is back in 1998. The alternating cycle is expected to continue beyond '98. ... Making matters more difficult for Simpson and Chapman this week was the fact that each night after their games, players from both teams spent their time taking exams. ... Trenton State also won the Division III women's lacrosse championship Sunday, beating Middlebury (Vt.) 15-8.
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY Staff Trenton State's players celebrateby CNBtheir second NCAA Division III softball title in the three years the
tournament has been played in Salem. color.