SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Poles Apart From Softball Polls : Virtually Ignored, Marina’s Vikings Reach Quarterfinals

For most of the softball season, Marina High School was not mentioned in the Southern Section 5-A polls while Sunset League co-champion Fountain Valley, which lost twice to the Vikings, made every poll and was ranked as high as fourth.

Marina finally appeared in the final week of the poll, ranked No. 6.

Fountain Valley dominated the Orange County coaches’ softball poll, holding down the top spot until the last week of the season, when it was bumped to second by Kennedy.

Marina?

Well, the Sunset League co-champion with Fountain Valley didn’t appear in that poll until the final week, when the Vikings were ranked eighth, five spots below No. 3 Mater Dei.

Marina defeated the Monarchs, 2-1, in the first round of the playoffs.

Today, Marina travels 2 1/2 hours north to Ventura County to take on fourth-seeded Thousand Oaks (24-5) in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m.

Marina Coach Susie Calderon said she is unfazed that Marina (18-9) has not gained much respect in the polls.

“It doesn’t seem to bother the kids any either,” she said. “I know to a lot of other coaches that really means a lot. I just tell the kids not to worry about it and to play our kind of ball, and if we happen to be on that list, fine. If not, we are not going to lose any sleep over it, that’s for sure.”

If the Vikings lost any sleep, it was this morning. The team, holding with tradition, planned to have breakfast at 6 a.m.

“We have had this superstition with us,” Calderon said. “When we played Fountain Valley, both times we went out to breakfast. But it is not by popular demand.”

That they have to travel more than two hours is, believe it or not, a good omen for Marina.

In the 1986 playoffs, Marina traveled even farther, taking on Dos Pueblos in Santa Barbara County.

In 1984, the Vikings traveled nearly 200 miles to Santa Barbara County to play Righetti of Santa Maria in the playoffs.

“We always seem to lose the flip on those long rides,” Calderon said. “The funny thing about it, though, is that against Righetti we went 19 innings and against Dos Pueblos it was 20 innings. We won both of them one-zip.”

Marina was hampered early in the season by injuries, which might account for its poor showing in the polls.

“I was playing with nine people for a long time and it was really scary,” Calderon said.

Backup pitcher and designated hitter Julie Muche (.230) missed the first half of the season with ligament problems in her elbow.

Center fielder Sandra Ross was sick on and off and had back problems. Left fielder Susan Walters broke her left leg sliding into third in nonleague play, and first baseman Annie Presutti started the season with a cast on her right foot from a basketball injury.

“I would say we got over those injuries approaching halfway through league and things started to all fall together,” Calderon said.

“We are all healthy now and the kids have a great attitude, great spirit.”

Marina is led by sophomore pitcher Willa Parchen (17-7), who has an earned-run average of 0.28 with 200 strikeouts and 60 walks in 162 innings.

Ross leads the Vikings’ offensive, batting .309, but third baseman Becky Toler (.193) has been coming on strong, getting key hits to start rallies for Marina.

In other 5-A games today, Fountain Valley (19-6-1) plays at second-seeded Righetti (25-2).

In the 3-A, three of four South Coast League teams have survived the first two rounds of play. Mission Viejo (16-8), which upset top-seeded La Mirada Tuesday, plays at Montclair (23-4). San Clemente (19-12) is at Ramona (21-7), and third-seeded Irvine (20-7) is at home against Saugus (19-7).