SOFTBALL DAILY NEWS ALL-AREA TEAM AND HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR.

Byline: Compiled by Ramona Shelburne  Staff Writer

MICHELLE SMITH, Sr., Agoura

To win Player of the Year honors, a typical candidate either is the best player in the area or the player who meant the most to her team.

Usually, there is not a player who is both. But this season, there is.

Smith, who will play at Stanford on scholarship in the fall, batted .463 with eight doubles, four home runs and 19 RBI. She had a .756 slugging percentage, a .546 on-base percentage and was named MVP of the Marmonte League for the second year in a row.

Every team in the league knew to stay away from Smith, but despite opponents' efforts not to let her beat them, she did. Smith carried Agoura to its first playoff berth since 1994. During that span, the Chargers never finished higher than fifth place.

Pitcher of the Year

LAUREN NYDAM, Sr., Village Christian

Village Christian of Sun Valley is a good Div. V team. The Crusaders have two players who have signed with Division I colleges and two others who will walk-on.

But without Nydam in the circle, 400-student Village Christian is just a good Div. V team that gets the most out of its players.

With Nydam, the Crusaders competed with the top teams in Southern California, at one point rising as high as No. 2 in the Daily News poll.

Nydam, who has signed with Stanford, was 17-10 with 225 strikeouts in 188 innings and a 0.30 ERA. She had four no-hitters, four perfect games and led Village Christian to the Southern Section Div. V championship.

But the reason she is the Pitcher of the Year is because of what she did against the best teams, against which most other good Div. V schools probably would have lost by the 10-run mercy rule.

Nydam shut out Foothill of Santa Ana, the 2003 Div. I runner-up. She threw eight shutout innings against Carson, the City Section runner-up. Nydam did not allow an earned run in a 1-0 loss to Norco, one of the top teams in Div. II. She also went six innings without giving up an earned run against El Modena, a Div. III semifinalist.

She finished her prep career with a 65-21 record and 770 strikeouts in 609 innings and a 0.38 ERA. She threw 39 shutouts, 12 no-hitters and seven perfect games.

Coaches of the Year

JACK WILLARD and BROOKE RUTSCHMAN, Camarillo

If there is a secret to postseason success, Willard and Rutschman seem to have discovered it. Camarillo reached the Southern Section Div. I semifinals for the third consecutive season, advancing deeper than any area team in the division.

This season might have been the most impressive. The Scorpions lost the area's all-time leader in steals, Krsytle Chamberlain, to graduation last year, then spent most of this season figuring out who their No. 1 pitcher was.

Camarillo overcame a 9-6 start to win 14 of its next 16 games and finish 23-8. Willard and Rutschman kept the team loose despite the slow start, enabling the Scorpions to peak at the right time.

Camarillo defeated Foothill League co-champion Hart of Newhall in the first round of the playoffs. The Scorpions then upset Thousand Oaks, which had been ranked No. 1 by the Daily News for much of the season, in the second round and second-seeded Rosary of Fullerton in the quarterfinals.

``We're like a fungus,'' Willard joked. ``We just kind of hang around and keep growing on you.''

FIRST TEAM

CHRISTINA ROSS, Sr., P, Valencia

Valencia graduated five players who went on to play in college last season, but the Vikings were again No. 1 in the Daily News rankings for much of the year. The reason for that was Ross.

Although her 14-7 record might not seem impressive, the Vikings failed to score for Ross in five of those losses. The worst of those was when she threw a no-hitter against Hart of Newhall but lost on an unearned run.

Ross, who will play for Kansas next season, had a 0.29 ERA with 184 strikeouts in 143 innings.

VICTORIA KEMP, Fr., OF, Saugus

Kemp had six home runs and 27 RBI, and she might have taken away nearly as many runs with her defense. Her teammate, senior pitcher Kyla Sullivan, said she wished she could take Kemp with her to college next season. Kemp will be one of the area's best players for the next three years after hitting .379 with a .701 slugging percentage in her first year.

TAYLOR SCHLOPY, Fr., P/SS, Oaks Christian

She set a Southern Section record with 15 triples and will likely break former Newbury Park standout Oli Keohohous' career triples record (19) next season. But Schlopy also is savvy for her age and has an all-round game. She batted .445 with 25 RBI and 15 stolen bases, including four in the Southern Section Div. IV championship game. As a pitcher, she was 19-1 with a 0.43 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 130 innings.

FRANCESCA ENEA, So., C, El Camino Real 

She was a Player of the Year candidate as a sophomore this season and arguably is the area's top college prospect. Enea hit .455 with 10 doubles, six triples and 40 RBI as the Conquistadores advanced to the City Section semifinals.

ANDI RAMIREZ, Jr., SS, Royal

She had her best season, batting .417 with two doubles, three triples, four home runs and 21 RBI. She was named the Marmonte League Defensive Player of the Year.

ROBYN KONTRA, Sr., P, Hart

She was the heart of an overachieving team. Kontra pitched almost every game and helped the Indians into the semifinals of two of the most prestigious tournaments in Southern California 1/3 Thousand Oaks and Woodbridge of Irvine. Kontra impressed those who came to watch her play with a devastating drop ball and a positive attitude. She'll play for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next season.

CAMBRIA MIRANDA, Sr., SS, Camarillo

Oregon State-bound Miranda was one of the area's most exciting players to watch. She hustles and always seems to find a way to make clutch plays. She batted .312 with six home runs and 23 RBI.

DE ANN YOUNG, Jr., 1B, Camarillo

Younger sister of Delmon Young, the No. 1 pick in the 2003 MLB Draft, is making her own name. She will likely be a top college prospect next season after batting .430 with nine doubles and 24 RBI.

SHANNON DOEPKING, Sr., SS, Highland

Her play at play shortstop was enough to honor her as first-team all-area. She batted .492 with three home runs, 21 RBI and a .721 slugging percentage. And she won't even play shortstop in college. She will switch to catcher at Tennessee.

KYLA SULLIVAN, Sr., P, Saugus

Sullivan made every team that overlooked her because of her 5-foot-2 frame regret it. The Western Michigan-bound pitcher went 21-3 with a 0.62 ERA and 170 strikeouts. She also hit .367 with eight doubles and 20 RBI.

AMBER PETERSON, Jr., C, Oaks Christian

Peterson struck out just once in 100 plate appearances while batting .470 with two doubles, three triples, four home runs and 39 RBI. she has become one of the area's top defensive catchers.

MONICA GONZALES, Jr., OF, Westlake

The center fielder is one of the area's toughest outs. She batted .545 and scored 21 runs in 24 games. Expect her to be one of the area's top recruits next season.

MEGAN SHIE, Jr., C, Westlake

She was named the Marmonte League Offensive Player of Year after batting .455 with six doubles, five triples, three home runs and 26 RBI.

KAT WALSH, Sr., Granada Hills

Villanova-bound Walsh graduates as the area's strikeout leader for two consecutive seasons. Walsh had 231 in 157 innings this season. She had a 0.62 ERA and came close to beating San Pedro in the City Section quarterfinals.

JONAE PEREZ, Sr., OF, Moorpark

She came back from a knee injury as a junior and batted .440 with five doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI. She helped Moorpark into playoff contention after the Musketeers went 1-13 in 2003.

AMANDA PEEK, Sr., C, Crescenta Valley

The baseball convert had another solid season. Peek hit .473 with 13 doubles, eight home runs and 43 RBI.

KELLY CORDEIRO, So., 2B, Thousand Oaks

Cordeiro batted .454 with a .588 slugging percentage, six doubles, 14 RBI and 15 runs scored. She should be one of the area's top offensive players for the next two seasons.

CAPTION(S):

20 photos, 7 boxes

Photo:

(1) MICHELLE SMITH

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(2) LAUREN NYDAM

Joe Lugavere/Staff Photographer

(3) JACK WILLARD and BROOKE RUTSCHMAN

(4) FRANCESCA ENEA

(5) AMBER PETERSON

Joe Binoya/Staff Photographer

(6) VICTORIA KEMP

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(7) TAYLOR SCHLOPY

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

(8) CHRISTINA ROSS

Gene Blevins/Staff Photographer

(9) JONAE PEREZ

(10) KAT WALSH

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(11) KYLA SULLIVAN

(12) ROBYN KONTRA

David Crane/Staff Photographer

(13) DE ANN YOUNG

(14) SHANNON DOEPKING

(15) MEGAN SHIE

(16) MONICA GONZALES

(17) KELLY CORDEIRO

(18) AMANDA PEEK

(19) ANDI RAMIREZ

(20) CAMBRIA MIRANDA

Box:

(1) Top 10

(2) Honorable Mention

(3) The Champions

(4) Numbers Game

(5) Biggest Surprises

(6) TOP 5 IN 2005

(7) Rookie Sensations