Debbie Doom’s day far from being over

Tim Graham

Wednesday, June 3, 1998 | 11:10 a.m.

Go ahead. Try to stand up against her.

But on the way to the box, don't forget a weapon. And don't take one of those heavy bats. Take something manageable, because control is the key in trying to counter one of her missiles -- that's if the aluminum gets off your shoulder before the ball explodes in the mitt behind you.

Hitters: Prepare to meet thy Doom.

Those instructions are issued to anyone who has yet to encounter the fast-pitch softball offerings of Las Vegan Debbie Doom, who is still throwing smoke a dozen years after becoming known as the most dominant softball pitcher in the world.

"She had such a mastery of location and off-speed and quickness," said Sharron Backus, who coached Doom at UCLA. "It almost made it impossible for people to hit her.

"Right now, she still has it."

Doom, 35, is a trailblazer. She won three NCAA championships at UCLA from 1982-85 and gained global status, beginning with her junior season of 1984.

She went 24-3-1 with an 0.10 ERA that year, striking out 282 batters, walking just 29 and allowing three earned runs in 215 1/3 innings.

Doom also helped the U.S. national team win two Pan-American Games titles and an International Softball World Championship crown.

"Unfortunately, the pioneers came up through the colleges in the early '80s," Backus said. "They were before their time."

Softball didn't become an Olympic sport until 1996, and Doom's age hindered her during tryouts. Although she helped pave the way for fastpitch softball's inclusion in the Summer Games, Doom didn't make that historic, gold medal-winning team.

"It was very disappointing," said Doom, who was forced to watch fellow UCLA alum Lisa Fernandez and UNLV's Lori Harrigan pitch for glory.

"Any time you put on the USA colors and put that USA on your chest, it's so special. You can't even imagine the feeling. It was always my dream to play in the Olympics."

But that setback didn't stop her from capitalizing on her sport's subsequent success.

Doom moved to Las Vegas three years ago to be near her mother. She offers private lessons through the Debbie Doom Softball Pitching Academy and has tutored several local high school hurlers.

She also pitches for the Orlando Wahoos of Women's Professional Fastpitch. She guided the Wahoos to the league's inaugural title last season and was named the Championship Series most valuable player.

The Wahoos begin defense of their milestone title today, with the opening of the second WPF campaign. The WPF is sponsored by AT&T and consists of six teams in the Southeast.

"We dominated the league," Doom said.

The WPF was considered a hitter-friendly league, but Doom failed to comply. The pitcher's rubber was located 46 feet from home plate as opposed to the NCAA's 43 feet.

"They really wanted to make it more of a hitting game," Doom said. "They're trying to take all the advantages away from the pitcher.

"They make the ball more lively. There's a hard core, almost a Super Ball inside. So when they make contact the ball goes a lot farther. What used to be a long foul ball now is a home run."

Even against much younger players, Doom still posted numbers reminiscent of her prime. She went 15-2 with an 0.42 ERA. Although she didn't demonstrate the same strikeout ratio (87 in 115 1/3 innings), she led the league in opponent batting average (.153).

"There are a lot of kids in this league, but most of them have heard of me," she said. "I'm the old-timer who's been around a million years. Then after they face me they really know who I am."

Hitters weren't pleased to find out the WPF decided during the off-season to move the rubber in three feet. Now Doom is even more dangerous.

"Debbie was always one that was so very deceiving because her delivery is so deliberate," said Backus, who now coaches the Wahoos. "She lulls you to sleep, and then the ball goes right past you. She does so many things with the ball.

"That maturity, that experience she brought to the championship, you can't buy that. You can't coach that."

Backus claimed Doom's fastball still reaches 65 mph, a speed that rivals today's top collegiate pitchers. But where Doom is most lethal is her impeccable command.

"I'm still throwing as hard as I used to, but I don't depend on that," Doom said. "I know that's not what's necessarily going to make me the best."