Bruder’s Brood : Some of County’s Best Softball Players Flock to the California Raiders

Twelve years ago, Phil Bruder, an activities director in the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department, decided to start a softball team to give high school girls a chance to play in the summer.

He filled his roster exclusively with the talented players he found in the San Fernando Valley. And before long, his team, the California Raiders, had become a force.

In the past 10 years or so, the Raiders have developed into the country’s dominant 18-and-under Amateur Softball Assn. girls’ team. They have won six of the last nine national championships.

Winning seems to be the constant with the Raiders. What has changed is the team’s power base. These days, Orange County is where Bruder, now the boys’ basketball coach at Campbell Hall High School in North Hollywood, turns for his softball talent.

Seven players of this year’s 15-member team come from Orange County.

“Back then, the entire Valley had kids that were extremely talented,� Bruder said of 1975, when he formed the team. “So I just got those kids who wanted to play during the summer and started a team.�

But Bruder said that since about 1981, more and more skilled players have come from Orange County.

“Orange County has far surpassed the Valley in softball talent,� he said. “I can honestly say that it has the finest softball talent in America.

“I can take kids from Orange County alone and come up with a team that’s for sure going to be a national contender.�

The Raiders (33-6) hope to end their season by winning the national championship in Lodi, Calif., the second week in August. They split a doubleheader with the national junior team of Japan Monday.

Bruder credits strong youth programs for Orange County’s emergence as a breeding ground of softball talent.

“To give you an example, there’s a 10-year-old pitcher in a Bobby Sox League that throws 53 miles an hour,� Bruder said. “Her sister (Martha Noffsinger of Huntington Beach, who now plays at Fresno State) played for me, and she already has plans to play on the Raiders.�

Said Colleen Silva, the Raiders’ assistant coach, “There have always been good players in the area, but this has been our biggest crop ever from Orange County.�

Catherine Stedman, a shortstop at Sunny Hills High School who will play for the 1987 NCAA champion Texas A&M; squad next year, is one of Bruder’s best players.

Stedman is one of two high school players to make the United States softball team that will compete in the Pan-American Games in August.

Stedman, a three-time All-Southern Section player, finished the 1987 season with a .413 batting average and during the Pan-Am tryouts in Colorado last month, she hit about .400.

Other Orange County players on the Raiders include catcher Tiny Glomboske, who had a .308 batting average as a freshman at Cal State Fullerton in ‘87, and second baseman Kelly Flaczinski of Bolsa Grande High School, who received a full scholarship to play at Florida State University next season.

The Raiders also have pitcher Tiffany Boyd of Woodbridge High School, pitcher Dawn Roberts of Laguna Hills High School, third baseman Gina Lopiccolo of Sunny Hills and first baseman Dena Baker of Edison, who received a full scholarship to play at Nevada Las Vegas.

So how does Bruder manage to get the best young players?

“Our reputation of winning,� he said. “Kids want to play on a team that wins.

“For four straight years--from 1982 to ‘85--we’ve won national championships. That doesn’t hurt when it comes to getting players.�

Bruder also gets a lot of help from former players, many of whom now are coaching high school softball teams. He says they provide an ample supply of scouting information.

One of his former players, Teri Ernst, is the softball coach at Campbell Hall.

“They’ll call me up and tell me, ‘There’s this kid I think you might be interested in,’ and I’ll go and take a look,� Bruder said.

Each October, the Raiders begin two months of weekly tryouts, and by December, Bruder has chosen the team. Bruder holds only occasional practices and schedules a few games until the season begins in late May. During the season, the Raiders practice once a week at a small park behind the Stanton police station.

“Every single practice is like a national tournament for us,� Bruder said. “We work as if it’s the last game we’ll ever play, and sure we slack off sometimes, because we’re human, but that’s very seldom.�

More than 90% of Bruder’s athletes have received full scholarships to play in college, he said. During the ’87 season, 38 former Raiders were playing on college teams, 36 of them on full scholarships.

Bruder’s success lies mainly in his eye for talent and his knack for motivation.

“He just motivates the kids to do good,� said UCLA Coach Sharron Backus, who has had her share of former Raiders. “Phil takes talented people and really helps bring out that talent.�

He does that by trying to eliminate mental mistakes.

“I’m going to catch every single mistake,� Bruder said. “Players are supposed to do things right. I’m there to limit their mistakes.

“That’s what makes a good ballplayer.�

Said Boyd: “If you don’t do it right, you’re going to hear about it. I don’t care who’s around or if it’s the middle of a game, he’ll yell at you and let you know what you did wrong.�

But that’s why Boyd wanted to play for the Raiders.

“I needed someone to really push me, teach me intensity and to build my mental capacity,� she said. “In the world of softball, that’s what Phil is known for.�

Apparently it works.

In addition to Stedman, seven of the 18 members on the Pan-American team are former Raiders.

Valencia High’s Michele Granger, one of the best softball pitchers in the country, was a Raider for two years and will be the starting pitcher for the national team this year.

“Phil is just a real intense person,� Granger said. “He’s real good at making sure you’re up for a game. He really knows how to start your adrenaline.

“When you go out there, he doesn’t tell you what you should do, he tells you what you have to do.�

Bruder doesn’t think he’s too tough on his players. He knows they all have the ability to do what he tells them to.

“That’s why I just look for things I can’t teach in a player,� Bruder said. “I look for quickness, strength and hand-eye coordination.

“Sometimes it’s almost as though you have to be a surgeon. You have to open up a kid and see how big her heart is. Is she going to be a clutch player or what?

“What makes us successful is that we put together a very mentally strong ballclub. We make them understand how to concentrate; what true concentration is.

“When they go out there I expect a 110% effort all the time, no matter how tired a player may be. There’s no excuse for not giving 110% if you’re not hurt.�

His coaching philosophy comes from his days as an athlete.

Bruder played baseball and basketball at Cal State Los Angeles, then he played one year of minor league baseball in 1965.

He says he was such a determined player that he had to be dragged off the field even when he was hurt.

“You can’t baby an athlete,� Bruder said. “When one of my players is injured, I won’t make her go out and play, but I won’t stop her, either.�

Although he says he has a great eye for talent, Bruder doesn’t take the credit for his players’ success.

“I didn’t make these kids,� Bruder said. “They had incredible talent when they came to me.

“What I do is bring out the potential in a young lady and make her the best ballplayer she can be.�