Softball gold energizes Los Angeles-area Catholic high schools

Published: 2004-08-25

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Two graduates of Los Angeles-area Catholic high schools were again instrumental in leading the U.S. women's softball team to an Olympic gold medal. And in again bringing excitement to their alma maters. Pitcher Lisa Fernandez, a 1989 graduate of St. Joseph High School in Lakewood, and catcher Stacey Nuveman, who graduated from St. Lucy's Priory High School in Glendora in 1996, provided much of the firepower in the U.S. team's 5-1 win over Australia in the Aug. 23 gold medal contest in Athens, Greece. Fernandez pitched a four-hitter and scored a run, while Nuveman smashed a long home run in the U.S. victory. For Fernandez, 33, it was the third time she has pitched the United States to the gold, having defeated China in the 1996 final and Japan in the 2000 championship game. For Nuveman -- like Fernandez, a former UCLA all-American -- it was her second gold medal. Teachers and students at both schools were ecstatic.

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