Out of the Shadow : No Longer an Understudy, Northridge’s Parker Catches On

NORTHRIDGE — When a pitcher intentionally walks slugger Chelo Lopez to get to the next batter, the Cal State Northridge softball team breaks into song.

“Oh, you don’t know about J.P. . . .”

Jennifer Parker, despite her .351 career average, is the Matadors’ best-kept secret, with the sneakiest “sneaky bunt” in the game.

Although she has batted cleanup since the sixth game of the season and has been the Matadors’ most consistent hitter since mid-March, the 5-foot-6 catcher remains a stealth-like weapon.

“Opponents don’t see her as a threat,” Northridge Coach Janet Sherman said.

The fifth-year senior, known as J.P. to teammates and coaches, has been quietly doing a solid job since 1994.

But in three previous seasons, she played in the shadow of former catcher Scia Maumausolo, Northridge’s only two-time, first-team Division I All-American.

“She’s had the adversity of not getting to catch even though she’s a great catcher,” Sherman said of Parker. “Things could have been different for her at a school that didn’t have a Scia.”

Things could be different for Northridge if it didn’t have Parker this season. She has carried the load for the Matadors (34-20-2), who face Long Beach State at 5 p.m. today in a first-round regional playoff game at Fresno State.

She leads the team with a .399 batting average, 10 doubles (tied with Lopez) and 34 runs batted in. She’s second in runs scored with 24 and third in sacrifices with 11. Parker is also the team’s most consistent defensive player, having made only three errors in 53 starts for a fielding average of .991.

Moreover, Parker has thrown out 19 baserunners in 27 steal attempts and has six pickoffs this season.

“For any team to have a catcher who throws out runners 70% of the time is phenomenal,” said Sherman, a former UCLA catcher. “There’s no one she can’t throw out.”

Parker proved Sherman’s point against top-ranked Arizona on April 19. Entering the game, Arizona’s Alison Johnsen was perfect in 35 steal attempts.

“[Johnsen] went and J.P. hosed her,” Sherman said.

Although her arm strength isn’t as powerful as Maumausolo’s, Parker has a quick release and pinpoint accuracy. She also calls an intelligent game, Sherman said.

Parker--who started 27 games at catcher as a freshman, including three of five in the College World Series--was moved to the outfield for most of her sophomore and junior seasons. Her hitting tailed off in those years, dropping to a career-low of .299 in 1996.

“I know I hit better when I’m catching,” she said. “The past two years I feel I could have done better, but I can’t dwell on it. This year kind of makes up for everything.”

Parker has saved her best for last. This season, she won the Big West Conference batting title by nearly 50 percentage points and was named the Big West field player of the year. She also was named All-West region and is an All-American candidate.

“She deserves all the accolades she’s getting,” Sherman said. “She’s been a great momentum swing for us.”

Parker was instrumental in helping Northridge reverse a 10-10-2 start. At midseason, the Matadors were 14-12-2, 4-6 in conference play, and had fallen out of the national rankings for the first time since 1992.

But Parker kept plugging away--getting on base, driving in runs and throwing out runners. Soon, the Matadors followed her lead.

A 14-4 run through April, including a 14-2 conference record, put Northridge back in the running.

“I think most of it was we just realized we were pressing too hard,” Parker said. “We were so busy trying not to lose that we forgot that it’s a game and we’re supposed to have fun.”

Parker’s confidence and fun-loving attitude are rooted in her early years with the Matadors.

After graduating from Glendora High in 1992, Parker was invited to walk on by former Coach Gary Torgeson. She made the team but was overwhelmed by the swagger of the 1993 and ’94 Matadors, the only two teams to advance to the World Series since Northridge moved up to Division I in 1991.

“Being a freshman and having so many people speak their mind, I wasn’t scared but I was kind of taken aback by it,” Parker said. “The fact that they would be so open and blunt to each other. I kind of just figured I was a freshman and thought I’ll just sit here and watch everybody and learn . . . and stay out of it.”

Parker was a student of the game in 1993, using a redshirt season after practicing and traveling with the team.

The clutch play of sluggers Beth Calcante, Tamara Ivie, Shannon Jones and Jen Fleming soon rubbed off on the rookie. In the 1994 regional at Northridge, Parker’s two-out, two-run double scored the first runs against Fullerton in a 4-0 victory that sent the Matadors to their second consecutive World Series.

Parker exudes confidence, but not with the in-your-face attitude of the 1993 and ’94 teams. Parker is serious about the game, but prefers to lead by example and quiet assurance.

“[She’s] very similar to Scia in that aspect,” Sherman said.

One of the products of Parker’s quiet success is her “sneaky bunt.”

Because Parker bats cleanup, her bunt, which isn’t shown until after the pitcher’s release, often catches defenses by surprise. That’s why Sherman, who estimates that 20 of Parker’s 48 hits as a sophomore were on bunt singles, has given Parker the green light to bunt.

“If I look and see the corners back, or if I took a big cut the swing before, who knows?” Parker said.

After five successful years in the college game, Parker, who will graduate with a degree in physical education later this month, still isn’t ready to hang up her facemask.

In fact, she prefers not to talk about her future--she’d like to become a high school science teacher and soccer or softball coach--beyond regionals and a possible World Series berth. Focus, she said, is everything.

“In high school, I was very wishy-washy,” she said. “That’s part of why when I got to college, I realized that I’ve got to focus on one thing instead of trying to do 10 things at once.

“I’ve got to do one thing, finish it, and then go on to the next.”

Still, the inevitable is beginning to creep in, but she doesn’t have to like it.

“I’m starting to realize that life goes on and I don’t know if I want it to yet,” she said.