SISTERS IN ARMS Family. Sport. Team. Communtiy. It all connects for two sisters who share a love for softball in Coalinga.(SPORTS)

From:

The Fresno Bee (Fresno, CA)

Date:

May 9, 2007

Byline: Lisa HoukThe Fresno Bee

COALINGA -- The wind picks up and the automatic sprinklers pop up at 5:07 p.m. spraying the Coalinga High outfielders with a mist of dust and water.

Other than trying to keep the softballs dry, the players go about their business.

They are preparing for their game at Immanuel High and are just happy they can practice on the field at West Hills Community College. The Coalinga varsity field is shared by the varsity, junior varsity, junior high and recreation league teams. The field is overused and not in the best shape.

Title IX issues aren't at the forefront of this isolated community 70 miles west of Fresno. After driving through the dry, barren hills just west of the Interstate 5 junction, the town of Coalinga appears. It's nestled in just past the cricket-like pumping oil wells and the 800-acre Harris Feeding Co. that houses so many cattle, wall-to-wall, the landscape is charred with their black and brown coats. The pungent smell of manure and dirt mixed with a hint of springtime blossoms gets trapped into one big whiff.

Most folks think of Harris Ranch and a good steak dinner or the big 1983 earthquake or the Pleasant Valley State Prison when Coalinga is mentioned.

Generations of families take root and only branch out as far as the edge of town. Coalinga's peace and comfort act as a drug that blurs the future, dulling the ache of growing up and putting to sleep any plans of moving on.

Lupita and Lourdes Gomez are part of this small-town plan. The sisters take the softball field and are considered local heroes by their grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins.

The two senior pitchers share a love of softball but share even bigger dreams.

The Horned Toads team is a beginning to an end for them. Despite a 3-15-1 record with one league game left and no playoff hopes, Lupita and "Lou," as Lourdes is known, turn their eyes to college, careers and travel. Softball has been a major part of their life. Now it is fading like a childhood memory.

Born 11 months apart, Lou, 18, and Lupita, 17, share an emotional and physical bond. Growing up, they were both shy but that is also beginning to change.

"On teams, we don't really talk, but we're trying to do better and talk more to support our teammates," said Lupita, the shyer of the two.

Breaking out of their shells is difficult when they've been together in their comfort zone for so long.

Their mother, Lourdes, signed her girls up for kindergarten at the same time, but she also realized they needed some breathing room.

"They were born so close together that we kept them in the same grade," said Lourdes, 45, who ran track, played volleyball and graduated from Coalinga High in 1980.

"When they were little, a teacher told me to separate them in class, and I did in the first grade because Lou was always the motherly type and overprotective of Lupita," she added. "Now in high school, they have a couple of classes together and play on teams ... I think it was good advice."

Lou will always watch over her sister, but her independent nature takes over when asked about college and academics. She's looking to attend Sacramento State but is keeping her options open.

"I want to study veterinary medicine and also art -- drawing, ceramics and sculpture," Lou said. "I like working with my hands."

She also yearns to travel to Europe and Egypt.

Lupita's top two college choices are Cal State East Bay (formerly Cal State Hayward) or Fresno State, and she plans to visit her mom's family in Barcelona, Spain, someday. She also wants to study journalism and pursue a career in sports media.

With solid grades, an athletic background and a strong sense of family, the Gomez sisters will still need to find a connection at the college level, whether they stay together or go separate ways. Their high school science/biology teacher Glenn Mitchell has seen the small-town students flourish in college or come running back after a year if they can't find that connection.

"My hope for these girls is that they very quickly develop a networking in college with academic support groups or Latino organizations, something to allow them to keep a sense of community," said Mitchell, who has been teaching for 32 years. "That way, if they get beaten up in a class, they'll take a fall but only fall as far as the safety net. Friends will help them come back. If they stick together they can go just as high and just as far as anybody anywhere else."

Lindsey Herrin is one of Coalinga High's success stories, and Lupita and Lou have gained inspiration from the 2001 graduate. Herrin played volleyball, basketball and softball all four years, and led the Horned Toads to the Central Section softball title in 2000.

Herrin played at Iowa State for two years, setting the single-season record for home runs with 10, and then transferred to UC-Santa Barbara for two years.

Lupita and Lou used to sneak away from their middle school softball practice to watch Herrin pitch at the high school field. Herrin remembers how shy the girls were.

"They would always be sitting right behind the backstop watching me pitch, and finally I went up to talk to them and one said, 'Lindsey, I'm your biggest fan.' Then the other one jumped up and said, 'No, I'm your biggest fan,' " said Herrin, who helped the Gomez sisters practice their pitching skills when she was in town. "They're so mature, sweet, genuine and honest, and that's rare at the high-school age."

Lupita and Lou have only a month of high school left before their real journey begins. They went to the prom in a limousine Saturday and will graduate together June 7. Before they head off to college, their parents, Lourdes and Sergio, are helping them face one last fear.

"They're scared to fly and have only been on a plane once to Mexico," said Lourdes, who owns a flower shop in town. "Their grad gift is a trip to Hawaii, and my husband is giving them a trip to Cancun. I'd like to see the girls move on and do what makes them happy. Their family will always be here."

The reporter can be reached at lhouk@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6174.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTOS BY HEIDI HUBER/THE FRESNO BEE

Lupita and Lou Gomez, 11 months apart in age but both senior softball stars at Coalinga High, listen to the national anthem before a game against Selma.

DARRELL WONG/THE FRESNO BEE

Lourdes Gomez, left, watches as her daughters Lou Gomez, second from left, and Lupita Gomez prepare to enter a limousine before their senior prom Saturday at Harris Ranch. The sisters will graduate from Coalinga High on June 7.