Lisa Fernandez

Lisa Fernandez pitching for the USA Olympic team

Lisa Fernandez was born on Birthday: February 22, 1971 and from there on she became something that no one ever that she would become. Lisa is a woman that wanted to play sports just like the boys did, except she wanted to play softball not baseball. She wanted to play because her dad played semi-pro baseball in Cuba. Right along with her sister, they both grow up around softball fields, but Lisa was the most affected by the field. She started to learn how to pitch at the age of 4 and by the time she was 6 she could already backhand grounders. When it was raining outside, she would turned the living room into a stadium, making balls out of socks and begging her parents to throw them so she could dive for them. She played her first competitive softball game when she was 8.

Then during her high school career she had 1,503 career strikeouts, 80 career victories, 0.07 ERA, 69 shutouts, 37 no-hitters, and 12 perfect games (including 3 consecutive games in 1989). In 1986 game, Fernandez, a freshman, played against Gahr High's De De Weiman. The two played for 21 scoreless innings until the game was suspended for darkness. The next day, they returned to finish up, pitching another eight innings until Fernandez scored the winning and only run.

Then she graduated from her high school to go to ULCA, to play softball for the Bruins. During her college career she had 4-time All-American, 2-time NCAA Champion, 3-time Honda-Broderick Award winner, Honda Cup Award winner, broke NCAA record of winning percentage with a .930 average (93-7), led nation in hitting senior year (.510), led nation with lowest ERA senior year (0.23), and broke 7 school records. Career statistics: Batting - .382, Singles – 225, Runs Scored – 142, Walks – 65, Hits – 287, Pitching Wins – 93, and No-Hitters – 11.

Then she graduated from college and played with other softball teams. She played with the rebels. The later on she played on the USA Olympic team every time the Olympics came around, and now she has retired from softball to become an Assistant Coach at UCLA.