BATTERS UP : PLAYERS HAVE A BALL CLINIC HELPS GIRLS SHARPEN ATHLETIC SKILLS.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

With her feet carefully aligned, Lauren Mooney of Santa Clarita swiftly scooped up a softball from the ground, remembering to keep most of her weight on the balls of her feet.

Within a few minutes, the 9-year-old had learned the basic fielding positions and how to get ready for a softball game.

Lauren attended her first softball clinic Sunday. Alongside 29 other children and teens, 8 to 15, she practiced hitting, pitching, infield and outfield skills and base-running techniques.

More seasoned players sharpened their skills for the season which will start next weekend, said Charlie Briere, a Canyon High School varsity softball coach who helped organize the clinic.

The two-day clinic, which ended Sunday, was the first of its kind at the William S. Hart baseball-softball complex in Valencia, Briere said. Officials hope to make this an annual event. Santa Clarita youths usually must travel to Orange County for such clinics.

Debby Day and Stephanie Stanley were among the nine coaches who pitched in to help teach skills to the children Sunday. Both women were on the University of Arizona softball team that won the national national championship in 1991 and PAC-10 championship in 1992.

``For me, potential means giving 100 percent. I think anybody who comes here at this age needs to have a lot of fun, too,'' said Day, now a Santa Clarita resident and fifth-grade teacher. ``I was told I would never make it as a pitcher. They told me to stay at shortstop.''

Day ignored the advice and went on to pitch for the Arizona Wildcats.

She said children also learn to work as a team in softball and to get along even with people they may not like.

``I think the whole thing is about learning about different stresses,'' she said.

Lauren, whose father is an assistant Little League coach in Canyon Country, has always liked the fanfare of ballgames.

``I really wanted to run the bases and slide and hit the balls. It looked like it would be fun to be in a game with a bunch of people cheering for you,'' the freckled-face girl said.

Her eyes peeked out from an oversized baseball cap Sunday as she learned how to pitch and catch fly balls and grounders.

Stuart Slakoff closely watched his daughter, Gloria, 12, practice pitching. He said the $35 cost was well worth it at the clinic, where there was an average of one coach for every three children.

``Usually, it's 20 on one,'' he said. ``It gives her a different perspective. Instead of having their regular coaches all the time, they're talking to people who have actually done it. . . . These people know what they're doing.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--Ran in SAC and AV--color in SAC only) Learning a bat habit, Gloria Slakoff, 12, left, practices holding a softball in her armpit to keep her swing straight during a players' clinic.

(2--Ran in SAC and AV--color in SAC only) Sarah Oasheim, 11, of Valencia pitches in on her weekend softball studies.

(3--Ran in SAC only--color) A student copies movements of varsity softball coach Charlie Briere with an imaginary bat.

John Lazar/Special to the Daily News