Marina Wins After Pacifica Error

It’s unfortunate Autumn Gwinner’s first nine innings Tuesday will be overshadowed by her 10th.

Had it not been for four outstanding defensive plays by the Pacifica second baseman, the Mariners might never have reached the 10th inning of the Southern Section Division I semifinal against top-seeded Marina. But once there, Gwinner had the kind of inning that bad dreams are made of.

She committed one error that allowed pinch-runner Angela Alvarez to reach third base, and then had the ball stick in her glove, allowing Alvarez to score the winning run in Marina’s 1-0 victory.

“They’re human,” Mariner Coach Rob Weil said. “They’re going to make mistakes. They’re kids.”

It brought an end to fourth-seeded Pacifica’s playoff run. The Mariners (21-6-1) had not allowed a run in three playoff victories, and Toni Mascarenas (15-4) had thrown five consecutive shutouts. But all went for naught when they could not handle the pressure of Marina’s only scoring threat.

“It could’ve gone on forever,” said Marina pitcher Marcy Crouch (21-2), who anticipated something akin to last year’s 22-inning quarterfinal against Los Alamitos. “We were lucky . . . It was whoever cashed it in.”

The payoff came in the 10th. After going five innings without a hit against Mascarenas, Marina (25-2) got a one-out single by Heather Williams. Alvarez pinch-ran for the catcher, and got a good jump on Faith Fuata’s bouncer to Gwinner, who looked to see if she had a play on Alvarez and then rushed her throw to first base--it was wide left. Alvarez took third base and Fuata second. Staci Byers was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Heather Hibben--robbed by Gwinner in the second inning with a runner on first--faced a drawn-in infield. Hibben hit a bouncer to Gwinner, who reached into her glove--and couldn’t pull the ball out cleanly. By the time she made the attempted force play at home, Alvarez had crossed the plate, giving Marina its 15th consecutive victory and stopping Pacifica’s winning streak at 11.

Marina plays unseeded Foothill (25-6) in Saturday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m. at Lakewood’s Mayfair Park. The Vikings won the Division 5-A title in 1990, and Foothill won the 4-A title in 1992. Marina defeated Foothill, 2-0, in last year’s playoffs.

Pacifica stranded eight runners over the final five innings, and had runners at second base in each of the final four. The game’s key play came in the eighth. Marina second baseman Becky Thompson caught Rachelle Breig’s line drive with runners at first and second. She stepped on second for the double play and saved the shutout.

Much attention was focused on Marina’s defense, which made two errors, but neither hurt the Vikings, who escaped jam after jam.

“At this stage, everybody is good and you can’t make mistakes, and you can’t hang your head,” Marina Coach Shelly Luth said. “You have to go on. No one makes a mistake on purpose.”