Fastpitch Softball : Hernandez Returns to Cardinals : She’s a Big Hitter as Santa Ana Team Beats Upland Wildfire

In the two years since Renee Hernandez left the Santa Ana Cardinals, she has been searching for the right team. She went from one to the next, trying to find a home. Friday, she finally landed back with the Santa Ana Cardinals.

In her first game back, Hernandez was an instant hit, driving in two runs with a home run and also scoring the game-winning run in a 3-2 victory over the Upland Wildfire.

The victory evened the Cardinals’ record at 1-1 in pool play of the American Fastpitch Assn. International Friendship Tournament at Maxwell Park in Anaheim.

Two summers ago Hernandez, 17, quit the Cardinals to try her luck against tougher competition. She found it. She also found herself losing self-confidence and aggressiveness.

Friday, nine years after she first played for the Santa Ana team, she donned the red-and-white uniform of the Cardinals once again.

It was a tailor-made fit.

Especially against last year’s runner-up team, Upland, which lost two games in pool play Friday.

The Cardinals dropped their first game Friday, 5-4, to the Shizuoka All-Stars, one of two Japanese teams competing in the four-day, 19-team tournament for girls 18-and-under.

But against Upland, Hernandez, an all-league catcher from Los Amigos High School who led the Southern Section with 31 stolen bases this season, hit a second-inning home run to tie the score, 2-2. She singled to open the fourth inning, and scored the game-winning run when Upland’s pitcher threw away a chance to get Marisol Gomez at first. Hernandez scored on the error.

Rachel Beloz, 17, who will be a senior at Esperanza this fall, pitched seven innings in the victory for the Cardinals. She allowed three hits and had four strikeouts.

Hernandez had traveled with four teams since she left the Cardinals, but she didn’t really feel at home with any of them. She played for the Blasters, the A’s, the Rebels, and, most recently, the Waves.

Three weeks ago, Cardinals Coach Mike Rouston called and asked Hernandez if she would play for his team. Who says you can never go home again?

The Cardinals finished tied with the Wildfire in summer league play. Both had 12-2 records.

The Torrance Lightning, last year’s tournament champion, had a rocky start Friday, losing both games. The Arizona Westerners beat Torrance, 3-0. Torrance then lost to the Texas Illusions, 3-1. The Illusions also defeated the Westminster Marauders, 3-1, putting them in line to earn the top seed in the championship round, which starts Sunday.

Pool play continues today to determine seeding for the championship round. The championship game is Monday at 1:15 p.m.