Marina Likes Tough Time, Defeats Grossmont

Members of Huntington Beach Marina High’s softball team don’t mind the funny looks they get from their classmates when asked about their Easter vacation plans. They’re getting used to it.

The Vikings find their annual Spring Break treks to the Orange Glen tournament quite rewarding.

Marina (12-4) pounded out 11 hits Wednesday, played error-free defense and defeated San Diego power Grossmont for the second day in a row, 6-2, capturing the Tough Time division of what is now called the Bill Rutledge Memorial Easter Tournament--renamed in memory of the late Orange Glen athletic director.

Leadoff hitter Robyn Yorke, a sprinter on Marina’s track team, beat out three infield singles and scored twice. Cleanup hitter Julie Luft was two for four with a booming two-run triple that gave the Vikings a 3-0 lead against Foothiller freshman Jessica Hahn in the third inning.

Singles by Yorke, Marcy Crouch and Kate Heinrich keyed a three-run fifth inning, also fueled by two Grossmont errors. The Foothillers (15-3) put up single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but had to be kicking themselves after Tuesday’s 7-6 loss to Marina in the last winners’ bracket game.

Grossmont led, 6-4, in that game when Luft, with two runners on base, cranked a 230-foot triple off the left-field fence and raced home on an error with the winning run.

“(Grossmont) pushed us, especially last night,” Marina Coach Shelly Luth said. “That’s why we like to come here. We get a chance to play against teams we’re not familiar with. This trip helps our team camaraderie. The juniors and seniors develop as leaders. It’s worked out that our teams have become united here.”

Rain forced the tournament to be canceled last year, but in 1990 Marina took the title and went on to win the Southern Section 5-A title with a 27-4 record.

Grossmont, which lost to Escondido in the San Diego Section 2-A final last year, was playing without three starters and used two freshmen pitchers, including Tina Luna, after standout Jolie Oliver had logged 28 innings of work in 2 1/2 days.

“You can’t say we’re inferior to them when we were up by two in the bottom of the seventh (Tuesday),” Grossmont Coach Bud Muehleisen said. “We had a tough time getting up today. But I think both our freshmen pitched well.”