AREA WOMAN TURNS ADVERSITY INTO TRIUMPH : BULLETS CATCHER OVERCOMES INJURY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

After being released two months into the inaugural season of the Colorado Silver Bullets, Missy Cress knew she wanted to return to baseball.

The Silver Bullets, a women's professional baseball team, released the catcher after she had struggled for several weeks with an arm injury.

For Cress, once captain of one of the best Division I softball teams in the nation at California State University, Northridge, it was a tough start to her baseball career.

``I had never been hurt before and I was on the road all the time and I was tired. Mentally I didn't know how to handle it,'' Cress said of that 1994 season. ``It showed me that this (her athletic career) can be taken away. I took some time off and I decided I really wanted to do this.''

Cress came back from the injury motivated. After playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates scout team, Cress returned to the Silver Bullets in 1995 and made the team again this year.

A highlight of playing with the team came July 3 when the club played in Coors Field in Denver, Cress said.

``There were 30,000 fans and the name `Silver Bullets' up on the scoreboard in lights,'' Cress said. ``I felt like a celebrity. It was exciting to be a part of that.''

Cress, a 1988 graduate of Royal High School in Simi Valley, and the rest of the Silver Bullets will be playing Tuesday at Lancaster Municipal Stadium against the Antelope Valley All-Stars, a team of high school seniors.

The team is the brainchild of Bob Hope, an Atlanta businessman. Hope had attempted in the 1980s to launch a women's team in the Class A Florida State League, but that attempt failed.

In 1993, Hope's plans for a professional women's team took hold when the Silver Bullets received the financial backing of the Coors Brewing Co.

In late 1993 and early 1994, a series of invitational and open tryouts were held, attracting more than 1,300 aspiring baseball players. The team culled from those tryouts began play on May 8, 1994.

``Basically it's a dream to extend your athletic career,'' Cress said. ``It's a challenge seeing how good you can get. Most people were on top of their game as far as softball goes,'' Cress said. ``This is a totally different game.''

The Silver Bullets are managed by Phil Niekro, the knuckleball hurler who won 318 games in the major leagues before he retired in 1987 at age 48. Niekro had served as a manager for the Richmond Braves, a AAA minor league team before becoming manager of the Silver Bullets.

Each player makes between $20,000 to $30,000 for a 50-game season that runs from early May to Aug. 31, Cress said.

``I like getting to play in major league stadiums and meeting baseball players,'' Cress said.

Cress also likes the opportunity of being a role model for children, especially for girls.

``We're female athletes they can look up to,'' Cress said. ``There might be some 8-year-old out there who might be the next Nolan Ryan.''

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Photo: (color) Missy Cress

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