CERVENKA EXPERIENCING VICTORIES.

Byline: VINCENT BONSIGNORE

Crescenta Valley High pitcher Meredith Cervenka stood in the pitcher's circle Saturday at the Daily News Victory Spring Classic softball final against Saugus, took a deep breath, then assessed the situation.

She was in a mess, that was for sure.

The Falcons led by one run, it was the bottom of the 11th inning, there were no outs and the bases were loaded.

Cervenka was more mad than scared. Crescenta Valley had finally broken through with a run in the top of the 11th to take the lead, and now this. An error, a base hit and a walk and all of a sudden, the Centurions were threatening not just to tie it up but win it.

Then something clicked in the back of Cervenka's mind. Whatever happens, she thought, I'll be better off for the experience. I either get out of this with a win, remember what I did right and draw on it somewhere down the line when I encounter similar circumstances, or I lose, stash away what I did wrong and remember never to do that again.

``Either way, it's going to make you tougher,'' said Cervenka, who struck out the next batter, then got the next to ground into a double play, preserving a 1-0 victory for the Falcons.

``You don't want to be in that situation, but you know it's going to make you a better pitcher,'' Cervenka said. ``You have to get the job done and if you don't. ... But it's a win-win situation. It makes you better no matter what. And it was a great way to end the game.''

Talk about a scary thought for Crescenta Valley opponents. If Cervenka gets any better, they might need to invent a new high school elite league. Coming into her senior year, Cervenka, who will play next year at Long Beach State, was a combined 66-9 while giving up just six earned runs and compiling a 0.08 ERA. Last year she set a state record of 292 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

This year, Cervenka is 13-1 with a 0.00 ERA.

No matter how you crunch those numbers, they add up to dominance.

``She's a terrific pitcher,'' Notre Dame coach Cindy Kramer said after Cervenka and the Falcons beat the Knights 3-0 in one semifinal Saturday. ``She spots her pitches, gets tremendous movement on her ball and she's smart.''

Cervenka isn't the typical dominant softball pitcher, the kind that intimidates opponents by blowing fastballs past hitters. Instead, she uses ball movement and control to baffle hitters.

While some pitchers overpower opponents, Cervenka deceives them, using six different pitches, all thrown with varying degrees of speed and with pinpoint accuracy. By the time Cervenka gets through with hitters, they're swinging at balls three inches off the plate.

Her out pitch is her changeup, but she'll throw her darting screwball at any batter on any count. And she's a tough read.

``Sometimes you can tell when a pitcher is throwing a changeup by watching their arm motion, but not with her,'' Kramer said. ``She does everything the same way, so know you're up there guessing. And after a few of those changeups, that makes her fastball seem 10 times faster.''

Cervenka likes to hear stuff like that. She appreciates the chess game going on between herself and batters, although she gives herself the advantage because of her vast repertoire.

When she first came to Crescenta Valley, she was a thrower, but over the years she continually adds new pitches, then masters them.

``If you just have speed, the first time they see you they may not be on you, but the second time they'll just stick the bat out and it's going to go,'' Cervenka said. ``You have to have movement along with your speed, it has to even out.''

Not that Cervenka doesn't intimidate hitters. Her reputation as the region's top pitcher is well chronicled and the numbers she's amassed create an aura of invincibility. Sometimes opponents are defeated before even facing a pitch.

``You've got younger players who are just happy to get a bat on the ball,'' Kramer said. ``And a good pitcher is going to sense that just by watching the batters body language.''

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Meredith Cervenka keeps batters guessing with six different pitches and had two shutouts Saturday.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer