Experienced Mater Dei Looks for Breakthrough Season

There are a lot of familiar names among Orange County’s top softball teams this season. Seven of the top teams from last season’s final Orange County Softball Coaches’ top 10 poll are again in the top 10. Kennedy, Fountain Valley, Mater Dei, Garden Grove, Canyon, Marina and Irvine all are projected to have successful seasons again.

Here’s a look at the top 10:

1. MATER DEI

Last year’s Monarchs lost to Marina in the first round of the Southern Section 5-A playoffs. They finished third-ranked in the county at 16-8-2, behind Kennedy and Fountain Valley.

They tied for second with St. Paul in the Angelus League behind St. Joseph of Lakewood and Lisa Fernandez, who broke the national record of former Valencia standout Michele Granger for career no-hitters and victories. Fernandez has moved on to UCLA, and that, coupled with the return of eight starters, gives Monarch Coach Cathy Quesnell the best shot in her five-year tenure at winning the league title.

“I always like to be an underdog, but I’ll take the first ranking because we’re really good,” Quesnell said. “We deserve it. We can belt the heck out of the ball. We have good pitching, really solid defense and team unity.”

The Monarchs already have beaten four top 10 teams: Canyon and Fountain Valley in scrimmages, and Irvine and Kennedy in nonleague play.

The Monarchs are led by sophomore pitcher Terri Kobata. Freshman Jennifer Clark will provide relief. Sophomore Amy Moeller, who pitched last season and batted .290, leads a talented group of hitters. She will play first base this season. The Monarchs’ only weakness is a lack of speed.

2. MARINA

Coach Susie Calderon likes to give all her players experience in the early part of the season. That’s one reason the Vikings did not appear in last year’s top 10 until the last poll of the season. They finished eighth.

Marina tied with Fountain Valley for the Sunset League title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 5-A playoffs, finishing at 18-10.

This season, the Vikings are favored to win the league title outright because they have seven starters returning and an unexpected bonus: Janet Miyahara, who pitched for Fountain Valley last season, will play for Marina. She will rotate with Willa Parchen, who had a 0.32 ERA and 199 strikeouts last season.

Catcher Christa Yorke is the Vikings’ top hitter with a .349 average.

3. GARDEN GROVE

The Argonauts placed second to Kennedy in the Garden Grove League last season. Pitcher Stephanie Smith is back for her senior year along with Michelle Cash, a power-hitting sophomore shortstop.

Coach Paula Cervantes took her team to the 4-A tournament quarterfinals before losing to third-seeded Diamond Bar. Garden Grove finished 20-7 and again should give Kennedy a run for the league title.

4. IRVINE

South Coast League champion Irvine finished ninth in the county rankings last season. Led by Jennifer Brundage, the Times’ Player of the Year, the Vaqueros went 20-8 and advanced to the 3-A quarterfinals, where they lost to Saugus, 1-0.

Brundage is back, and that in itself is almost enough to make the Vaqueros a force. Last season as a sophomore, she batted .449 and had a 0.25 ERA. She pitched 12 shutouts, three no-hitters and struck out 259 batters in 199 innings. She had five home runs, four doubles and a triple and led her team with 16 runs batted in.

Coach Phil Dunmeyer also has three other starters back: shortstop Carrie Caudill, third baseman Sam Lutsch and catcher Erica Koch, who batted .438. Junior Shelley Byrd moves to the varsity and should shore up the infield.

5. FOUNTAIN VALLEY

Pitcher Rae Rice and catcher Shannon Dolan, an all-Southern Section 5-A selection, are the only returning starters for ninth-year Coach Carey Baker. Both were selected on The Times’ All-County team last year, when the Barons went 19-7-1. They were Sunset League co-champions with Marina and lost to second-seeded Righetti in the 5-A quarterfinals.

Baker must replace seven players, including Miyahara, who transferred to Marina. Rice and Dolan, both juniors, are a good foundation. Dolan batted .345 last year and Rice, who struggled with an injury, went 9-5 with a 0.13 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 110 innings pitched.

“We’ll be competitive because we have some good players,” Baker said. “We may lose some games early because of lack of experience.”

6. KENNEDY

The Fighting Irish finished atop the final county coaches’ poll last season. The bad news for third-year Coach Susan Hall is that she must replace the enthusiasm and hitting of Times’ All-County players Missy Gyde at shortstop and Suzie Berdis in the outfield. Kris Vucurevic, a catcher and third baseman, also graduated. She batted .329, Gyde .256 and Berdis .333.

The good news is seven players, including junior pitcher Cheryl Longeway, return from last season’s Garden Grove League championship team that finished 23-5 and made it to the 4-A semifinals before losing to Western.

As a freshman, Longeway pitched Kennedy to the 3-A title. Last season she had a 20-4 record with a 0.39 ERA, and batted .307.

7. CANYON

Power-hitter Chanele Chambrone, who batted .309 last year, is attending Cal State Long Beach, but eighth-year Coach Lance Eddy has plenty of hitting power left from last year’s team that set a school record for runs scored.

Second baseman DaLynne Large, who batted .297 with 25 runs scored as a sophomore, returns with senior third baseman Krissy Kyriazis (.265 and 24 runs scored) and junior Senetha Thomas, a left fielder and designated hitter who batted .277.

“Our big strength is hitting,” Eddy said. “I don’t think there are any better hitters in the county as a threesome than Large, Kyriazis, and Thomas.”

Sara Roberts, a junior pitcher, came on strong at the end of last season. She went 10-3 as a sophomore with 79 strikeouts in 105 innings pitched and a 1.06 ERA.

8. LOS ALAMITOS

The Griffins have experience and pitching. Six starters return, including most of the infield: Dana Doyle at first base, Julie Harris at second base and Christy Bowles at shortstop. Catcher DeeAnne Chesebro also is back, as are sisters Shannon and Sharon Skoglund, who will share the pitching duties.

Shannon Skoglund is a junk ball pitcher, Moore said. “She doesn’t have great speed but she is very consistent and gets the job done. With she and power-hitters Bowles and Chesebro, the Griffins should repeat as Empire League champions.

9. EL TORO

Jim Daugherty has eight starters back from last season’s 18-12 team that lost in the second round of the 3-A playoffs. The Chargers also add junior transfer Marta Bickert to complement Paige Lauby, who as a junior had 146 strikeouts and a 0.71 ERA.

Bickert quit the Trabuco Hills team after a 5-9 start last year. As a freshman she had 11 shutouts and a 0.89 ERA with a .350 batting average.

El Toro has depth, pitching, defense and experience. And though the Chargers lack speed and someone who can come up with the big hit, they have three consistent batters in Lauby (.309), right fielder Karie Yoshioka (.307) and second baseman Corrie Yauney (.302).

10. BUENA PARK

Senior pitcher Shannon Akau is one of the better pitchers in Orange County, but she has an inexperienced club around her. Akau throws a strong rise ball with plenty of jump. The big question is offense. Will the Coyotes have any? They posted an early victory over Canyon, 1-0.

Other teams to watch:

Foothill, La Habra, Mission Viejo, Ocean View, Saddleback, Savanna, Trabuco Hills, Valencia and Woodbridge.