SOUTHERN SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS : First Time Is Charm for Vikings’ Orach

She had never played a full season of softball, but Marina freshman Megan Orach was standing on first base in the fifth inning of a scoreless Southern Section Division I championship game.

Pinch-running for catcher Heather Williams with nobody out, Orach moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on Staci Byers’ ground out to first and scored what proved to be the winning run on a single by Heather Hibben.

“I was pretty confident once I scored that we were going to win,” the backup center fielder said.

The Vikings (26-2) went on to beat Foothill, 2-0, giving Marina its first softball title since 1990.

But for Orach, it was her first title since March of this year.

Orach, then a forward for the Marina soccer team, helped the Vikings to a 28-0-1 record, and a Division I championship.

“This one was much more exciting for me,” Orach said. “You get to cheer more and you get pumped up during the game.”

Orach, who had won tournaments and other honors in club soccer, had never played softball until after beating Palos Verdes Peninsula in soccer, 3-0, in the finals this year.

“I brought her up (from the junior varsity team) halfway through the season because of her speed,” Marina Coach Shelly Luth said. “She had never played softball before in her life.”

“She is the first (pinch-runner) off our bench because she is so fast.”

She showed that speed Friday.

“I had never played before, and I really wanted to try it,” Orach said. “I think I played enough to earn my letter.”

Winning two championships in her first year of high school was something Orach never dreamed.

“I wasn’t expecting to win any championships when I came to Marina,” Orach said. “I don’t think anything can top this, unless we do it again next year.”

Teammate Marcy Crouch, who also was a member of the championship soccer team, enjoyed this victory more than the one in March.

“This one was so much more unexpected,” Crouch said. “This one is a little better because I was a little more a part of this team.”

A lot more--she pitched a one-hitter.