Two Arms Are Better Than One at Marina : 5-A Division: Parchen and Miyahara take turns pitching the Vikings into a championship game against Newbury Park.

Christa Yorke, Marina High School’s standout senior catcher, was the first to notice.

She went straight to Coach Susie Calderon at the start of the school year. “Guess who I saw at school today?” she asked before answering herself. “Janet Miyahara!”

Miyahara had spent her sophomore season at Fountain Valley as pitcher Rae Rice’s back-up.

The only problem was Marina already had a strong pitcher, junior Willa Parchen.

Has it worked out?

Well, top-seeded Marina (28-5) plays second-seeded Newbury Park (24-7) for the Southern Section 5-A softball championship at 8 tonight at Mayfair Park in Lakewood.

Marina’s last section title was in 1975. In 1984, Marina lost a 19-inning final to Kennedy, 1-0.

The Parchen-Miyahara combination has worked to near perfection, thanks in part to their teammates’ accepting attitudes.

Yorke, the team leader, and her sister Robyn, a freshman center fielder, set the tone.

“I don’t think the team had any adjustments to make,” said Christa, who handles both pitchers. “I think (Miyahara) only bettered our team, because we all realized that Janet is a good ballplayer and there is no way she could have hurt us.”

Calderon told the team at tryouts that every position was open and Miyahara would have a fair shot at any position.

Still, she had a talk with Parchen to assure her she wasn’t being usurped.

“I said, ‘What do you think about the whole situation?’ ” Calderon said. “(Parchen) said, ‘I think it’s going to be great that I don’t have to worry about all the pitching this year and everything being on my shoulders.’ ”

Parchen said she felt somewhat territorial at first, but once she got to know Miyahara, she felt comfortable sharing the pitching duties.

“I think it’s just nice being in a situation where she can help me out and I can help her out,” Parchen said.

Miyahara has helped out in the infield as well as on the mound. “She has been a great addition to our team,” Calderon said.

“She plays shortstop, and she’s a dang good shortstop, too, defensively. She has a bullet for an arm. Her backhand is tremendous. So we have a real nice defense behind Willa when Willa is on the mound.”

In the preseason, Parchen battled the flu, strep throat and an ear infection, so Miyahara took over. Miyahara later sprained her ankle and missed all but three Sunset League games, so Parchen carried the load during the league season.

Miyahara compiled a 15-1 record with a 0.13 earned-run average. In 106 innings, she has 126 strikeouts and nine walks. Parchen is 12-3 with a 0.35 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 100 innings.

Both athletes have an array of pitches, from drop to rise to screwball to curve. Calderon leaves it to Christa, a pitcher while in elementary school, to call the pitches. Miyahara and Parchen rarely shake off a sign.

“I wouldn’t want to face either of them,” Christa said. “Willa, she takes control of the batter. You don’t really know what she is going to pitch, so you have to be on your toes.

“And Janet, she’s got that wicked changeup.” Miyahara acknowledges her changeup is not only her best pitch, it is her favorite. “It kind of throws off the batters and it’s easy to throw,” Miyahara said.

But last year she didn’t get much chance to throw it because she was the No. 2 pitcher at Fountain Valley behind the powerful Rice--this year’s most valuable pitcher in the Sunset League.

Parchen’s family moved to Marina’s attendance area this year, and Calderon decided to play both pitchers equally. “The only thing I know as far as why she came over here was she was concerned about her pitching time,” Calderon said. “It would be very frustrating for a kid of her caliber to sit and watch.”

Calderon told her pitchers they would go with a straight rotation in the playoffs unless one pitcher came across a team that had already seen her stuff.

Parchen pitched Marina to a 1-0, victory over Camarillo in the first round. Then Miyahara beat Lompoc, 5-0. Miyahara got the call again against fourth-seeded Mater Dei because the Monarchs already had seen Parchen twice. Marina won, 9-0.

Parchen will start against Newbury Park. In March, she earned her first victory of the season with a no-hitter and 13 strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over Newbury Park. Despite the fact that Parchen already has faced Newbury Park, Calderon said she didn’t consider sitting Parchen.

“She pitched a great ball game against them, and I can’t do that to her,” she said. “If something goes wrong, I have Janet to back her up. That is the luxury we have. We have two great pitchers who back each other up.”