COUGARS NOT HAVING BANNER DAYS : BLACK FLAG ADORNS DUGOUT AS COC SOFTBALL TEAM FIGHTS LOSING STREAK.

Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer

The symbol that hangs over the College of the Canyons' softball team dugout is not large. But its meaning is.

A small black flag blows in the wind, fluttering from a flagpole duct-taped to the top of the third-base dugout.

Someone - no one knows who, and Coach Ray Whitten swears it's not he - is making a statement of mourning over the team's plight.

After Wednesday's loss, the team disbanded for spring break with a 16-game losing streak, including 10 in a row in Western State Conference play.

That came after the Cougars won the season opener against Chaffey, a highly regarded program that was 20-15 last year.

Around the time of the 14th consecutive defeat, the banner appeared. Whitten said it's a school tradition started many years ago, when the baseball team was mired in a long slump. The flag suddenly and mysteriously appeared and stayed until the Cougars won a game at home. Then it disappeared.

The softball team has never endured a losing streak of this length or the presence of the banner.

``When they first saw it, some were taken aback,'' Whitten said. ``One girl wanted to take it down.''

Others thought it was funny. Yet there's nothing funny about what has happened this season. In numerous games, the Cougars had a lead but lost it, often late in the game.

Examples:

March 11 against Santa Monica: A 3-1 lead disappeared in the sixth inning. Canyons lost in the eighth.

March 15 at Alan Hancock, the current conference leader: A 2-1 lead in the fourth evaporated when Hancock scored four in the fifth.

March 22 at Ventura: Canyons rallied from a 2-0 deficit but lost in the bottom of the seventh.

March 27 at Bakersfield: A 2-0 lead disappeared with a Bakersfield six-run third inning.

April 1 at Moorpark: The Cougars keep battling back to tie the score before ultimately losing in the eighth.

It's been hard for some players to stay positive.

Amanda Huddleston, one of the captains on the team, played teams with winning records during her career at Crescenta Valley High School. So did Hart graduate Torey Stotts.

``It's hard to keep your head in the game. (Losing) 16 in a row can get you down,'' Stotts said. ``You begin to lose the will to play. . . . People ask, `How are you guys doing?' Usually, I tell them, I say, our record isn't exactly proof of what our team is.''

Whitten's noticed that and has tried hard to maintain a positive attitude.

``I tell them, you think about it. Three people on our team, four counting Stacy (Creo), have never played a high school varsity game, and you're out here starting in the community college level, and we're ahead of teams and tied with teams that are loaded with ex-high school players.''

The players, for the most part, have responded. Whitten said they still come to practice faithfully, still try their hardest and rarely fight among themselves.

How has it all happened?

Whitten began with no pitcher, found Creo in a schoolwide search, then lost her to an injured ulnar nerve in her pitching elbow. That was when the team was 1-8 and 0-1 in the Western State Conference. With other injuries and people quitting, the team is down to 10 players.

Without Creo, Saugus' Tiffany Mercado, another who has no varsity high school experience, has taken on the pitching duties.

Whitten said Mercado is doing well, but she pitches slower than Creo, and it's just a matter of time before the batters time themselves to hit her pitches.

But it's not always Mercado. The team defense often has faltered late in the games. Errors have been evenly spread around the team, but the end result is always the same: a loss.

``No one's blaming her,'' Huddleston said of Mercado. ``She's doing the best she can. We don't have an experienced pitcher.''

When the Cougars reconvene next week, they'll have three more home games in which to get the banner off their dugout: April 17 against Hancock, April 24 against Ventura and April 29 against Bakersfield. The team also has several road games, including as many as five in the Antelope Valley tournament, although Whitten's not sure if a road win will remove the banner.

Whether they win at home or on the road is not of primary concern. Winning anywhere is.

``Winning the conference title is out, and making the playoffs are out,'' Whitten said. ``All we can do now is never give up and play for ourselves and play for pride and hope to heck a win comes along.''

Otherwise, the sign of futility continues to blow in the wind.

CAPTION(S):

Photo: Someone has hung a black flag of mourning at College of the C anyons, because the Cougars have lost 16 softball games in a row.

John Lazar/Special to the Daily News