THE PREPS : Softball Roundup : Marina Climbs Into a Three-Way Tie for First

A wild pitch by Fountain Valley High School’s Rae Rice scored the winning run in the sixth inning Tuesday and Marina held on to score a 3-2 Sunset League victory at Fountain Valley.

The victory put Marina (16-9, 6-3) into a three-way tie for first place with Fountain Valley (17-6-1, 6-3) and Huntington Beach with one game to play.

Should Marina defeat Ocean View on Thursday while Fountain Valley defeats Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Marina will finish the season tied for first with the Vikings getting the league’s No. 1 Southern Section playoff berth because they defeated the Barons twice during league play.

However, should Huntington Beach and Marina finish the season tied for first, Huntington Beach would get the league’s top playoff berth because the Oilers hold two league victories over the Vikings. But if Fountain Valley wins while Marina loses, the Barons will win the title outright.

“It’s such a wonderful feeling to be where we are now,” said Marina Coach Susie Calderon. “I’m so darned proud of my team. They (Fountain Valley) are an awfully tough team, but we came through when we needed to.”

Said Fountain Valley Coach Cary Baker: “It’s Thursday for the title again for us. We just have to go in there and beat Huntington Beach if we are going to get at least a share of the championship.”

Rice (7-4), who struck out eight batters, allowed a single to Annie Presutti to start the Marina sixth. Becky Toler, who forced Presutti at second, advanced to second on Shannon Dolan’s passed ball and to third when shortstop Kami Bigler misplayed Mindy Burgess’ grounder.

Rice, who struck out Julie Luft for the second out before Bigler’s error, then uncorked her wild pitch to score Toler.

Willa Parchen (15-7), who gave up five hits, allowed runners to get as far as second base with two outs in both the sixth and seventh innings. But Parchen ended the sixth by retiring Trisha Staake on a grounder and induced Sami Sawyer to fly out to center in the seventh to end the game.”

Marina took advantage of two second-inning Fountain Valley errors to take a 2-0 lead on Burgess’ two-run triple. In the bottom of the second inning, the Barons came back to tie the score on Staake’s sacrifice fly and Paula Estes’ run-scoring single.

In other Sunset League games:

Huntington Beach 7, Westminster 1--Dana Ferdinand went two for three with four RBIs to lead the Oilers (13-11, 6-3) at Westminster (1-8 in league play).

Ocean View 1, Edison 0--Marta Pickard singled, was sacrificed to second and scored when catcher Jennifer Kimball bunted up the first-base line and Edison catcher Stephanie Rogers overthrew first. Pickard also pitched a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts for Ocean View (16-12, 5-4). Edison is 6-17, 3-6.

In Angelus League softball:

Mater Dei 10, Bishop Montgomery 0--Terri Kobata (8-4) pitched a two-hitter, striking out eight, for Mater Dei (16-6-2, 6-3-1) at Memorial Park in Santa Ana. Julie Cline and Sundy Mosqueda each had two hits and two RBIs for the Monarchs. Amy Moeller had a two-run triple and Teresa Conway a solo home run for Mater Dei.

In Century League softball:

Villa Park 7, Santa Ana 1--Chris Redman had two hits and two RBIs for the Spartans (14-12, 7-2) at Villa Park. Redman (11-7) also pitched a five-hitter, striking out five, for the victory. Stephanie Wills had three hits, three runs scored and one RBI.

In Empire League softball:

Cypress 1, Katella 0--Beth Howard pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts to lead Cypress (4-5 in league play).

Los Alamitos 6, Esperanza 0--Dana Cipollone and DeeAnn Chesebro hit two singles each to help Los Alamitos (13-10, 7-2) clinch at least a tie for first place with one game remaining. Shannon Skoglund pitched a one-hit shutout with five strikeouts and no walks. Esperanza drops to 3-6 in league play.

In Freeway League softball:

La Habra 1, Fullerton 0--Laura Corsin, who pitched a no-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks, scored the winning run on an error to lead visiting La Habra (7-2 in league play) against Fullerton (14-9, 3-6).

In Garden Grove League softball:

Garden Grove 1, La Quinta 0--Stephanie Smith (16-8) pitched a one-hitter, striking out seven, for the Argonauts (18-9, 11-2) at Garden Grove. Smith allowed only a leadoff single in the fifth. Garden Grove took the lead in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Becky Eggers.

Kennedy 3, Pacifica 0--Kris Vucurevic went two for three with one RBI and Danielle McLeod went two for three and scored one run to lead first-place Kennedy (19-4, 12-1).

Los Amigos 5, Santiago 2--Catcher Renee Hernandez hit a solo homer in the third and had two RBIs to lead Los Amigos (7-6 in league play) at Santiago.

In Orange League softball:

Valencia 3, Magnolia 0--Natasha Dumoski pitched a no-hitter, striking out nine, for the Tigers (11-12, 6-3) at Valencia. Dumoski had a perfect game through six innings, but walked a batter with two outs in the seventh. Dumoski has pitched 37 consecutive innings without allowing a run. Danette Davis had four hits, including a leadoff triple in the fifth. Bonnell Scott followed with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead. The Tigers scored two more runs in the fifth, one on a passed ball, the other on Amanda Chadwick’s sacrifice fly.

Brea-Olinda 1, Savanna 0--Kelly Cook (15-5) pitched a one-hitter, striking out 11, for the Wildcats (15-6, 7-2) at Brea-Olinda. Cook allowed only a bunt single to lead off the fifth. The Wildcats took the lead in the fourth as Sherry Fulbright singled with two outs and Joy Stephens followed with a triple to left field.

In Sea View League softball:

Saddleback 10, Newport Harbor 0 (5 innings)--Shortstop Nikkanni Andrews went two for two with two RBIs, five stolen bases and three runs scored for host Saddleback (22-4, 12-2). Newport Harbor drops to 3-11 in league play.

Tustin 9, Corona del Mar 0--Shannon Ellis (7-6) pitched a one-hitter, striking out 12, for the Tillers (15-7, 12-2) at Tustin. Ellis also had two RBIs.

University 7, Estancia 2--Lakita Johnson went two for four with a double, two RBIs and three stolen bases to guarantee University (14-8, 9-5) a third-place league finish. Freshman pitcher Jennifer Yoder won her first varsity game, pitching a one-hitter with five strikeouts and five walks through five innings.

In South Coast League softball:

Irvine 2, Capistrano Valley 0--Jennifer Brundage (15-7) pitched a one-hitter with nine strikeouts to lead Irvine (7-2 in league play). Sam Lutsch had a two-run homer in the sixth for Irvine. Capistrano Valley is (11-13, 3-6).

San Clemente 6, Mission Viejo 3--Tara Roush had 10 strikeouts and gave up five hits, and Wendy Stewart went two for four and scored a run for San Clemente (11-11, 5-4).

In Sunrise League softball:

Connelly 15, St. Matthias 3 (5 innings)--Santina Delligatta pitched a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts, and Tina Demarco tripled to help Connelly (9-3, 7-0) clinch the league championship. St. Matthias is 7-1 in league play.