The Preps : SOUTHERN SECTION SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS : 5-A : Marina Edges Mater Dei, 2-1

Wild pitches haunted Willa Parchen so much last year that around the Sunset League the Marina High School pitcher earned the nickname “Wild Willa.”

Thursday, Parchen, a sophomore, survived a wild third inning and Mater Dei pitcher Terri Kobata fell victim to a case of freshman jitters early in Marina’s 2-1 victory over Mater Dei in the first round of the Southern Section 5-A softball playoffs at Marina.

Marina (18-9) will meet Thousand Oaks (24-5), an 8-1 winner over Lompoc Thursday, in next Thursday’s quarterfinal round. The home team will be determined by a coin toss today. Mater Dei finishes 16-7-2.

Kobata (8-5) gave up only two hits and had seven strikeouts, but a first inning with two base-on-balls, two wild pitches and three errors proved to be the Monarchs’ undoing.

Kobata missed on eight of her first 10 pitches, walking lead-off batter Christa Yorke and No. 2 batter Sandra Ross.

She then threw a wild pitch to Annie Presutti. Yorke took off for third. Catcher Beth Lomeli attempted to throw out Yorke, but overthrew third. Yorke scored on the error and Ross took third.

Kobata struck Presutti out.

Mindy Burgess then bunted in front of the plate. While Kobata, Lomeli and third baseman Sundy Mosqueda waited for the ball to roll foul--which it never did--Ross scored the final run of the inning.

Kobata settled down, walking only one batter after the first inning and striking out four.

It was Parchen’s turn to take a walk on the wild side in the third inning, issuing bases-on-balls to three consecutive batters and throwing two wild pitches, including one that allowed Mater Dei’s run to score.

With two outs, Parchen walked Tina Fuata and Beth Lomeli. Fuata advanced to third when Marina catcher Yorke attempted to pick off Lomeli and Presutti, the first baseman, dropped the throw.

Parchen then walked Theresa Conway to load the bases. She threw her next pitch, to Mosqueda, in the dirt, and Fuata scored from third before Yorke could recover.

Another wild pitch advanced Lomeli to third before Mosqueda popped up to Parchen to end the inning.

“It was a scary game,” Marina Coach Susie Calderon said. “Actually, both pitchers had a real bad inning, and we were really fortunate to capitalize.

“It is kind of a scary feeling for a freshman to go in there. I know Willa felt the same way last year.” (Marina lost to St. Paul in the first round of the playoffs last year.)

Parchen (17-7) finished with a three-hitter Thursday. She attributed her success this year to experience and better control.

“She has really thrown well this year and gotten herself out of a lot of jams,” Calderon said. “She has accepted the responsibility by saying, ‘I’ve got these runners on, I’ve got to get them out.’ ”

In other 5-A first-round games:

Fountain Valley 3, El Dorado 1--Rae Rice pitched a three-hitter with 16 strikeouts to lead host Fountain Valley (19-6-1) over El Dorado (16-8). Janet Miyahara went two for two with a double and an RBI, Carla Broady went two for two with a run scored and Shannon Harrison had an RBI to pace Fountain Valley. The Barons will play Righetti (25-2) in a quarterfinal game next Thursday.

Downey 2, Los Alamitos 0--Visiting Downey (15-6) won and advances to play top-seeded St. Joseph in the second round Tuesday. Los Alamitos, the Empire League champions, ends the season, 14-11.

Gahr 1, Huntington Beach 0--Third-seeded Gahr (22-2) won at home. Huntington Beach ends, 15-13. Gahr plays St. Paul Tuesday.