Marina Takes Aim at a Title With Hagen

Imagine watching a softball game from the infield, the other team teeing off on the pitcher.

Imagine walks and mounting frustration one year after your team won a section championship.

That’s what it was like for Heather Hagen.

The Marina senior was a second baseman during her freshman and sophomore years, but was so frustrated by what she saw happening with her team in 1996, she decided to do something about it.

She became the pitcher.

Hagen is one of the big reasons Marina finds itself in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division II playoffs today against top-seeded Woodbridge.

Hagen’s emergence helped Marina win its first Sunset League title since her freshman season, rise to No. 5 in the county rankings, and be a threat to end Woodbridge’s run of reaching three consecutive section finals.

Woodbridge (27-5-1) beat Marina (24-5) and Hagen in the Vikings’ first game of the season, 2-1, in 13 innings.

“She knows what it takes to win because she was on the 1995 [section] champion team,” Marina Coach Shelly Luth said. “She mentally prepared to pitch at the level of [Woodbridge pitcher] Christy Robitaille. Heather is a great athlete; she would make an outstanding outfielder.”

But Hagen’s journey to the circle for today’s game at Marina started in 1996, when the Vikings struggled in big games with a pitcher whose earned-run average ballooned over 1.00.

The Vikings (13-12-1 in 1996), two-time defending section champions at the time, were beaten in the first round of the playoffs by Mater Dei, 18-1. That day, Hagen first hinted at things to come.

“I didn’t think she was really serious when she told me she wanted to become our pitcher--I thought she was joking,” Luth said. “Marina always had the luxury of outstanding pitching. Heather came off that team when Marcy Crouch was pitching. . . . She wanted our team to be good during the duration she was at Marina. When she said it to me, I said, ‘Cool.’ ”

Hagen credits pitching coach Robert Melendrez.

“When I started out, I thought it would take me forever to get anywhere,” Hagen said. “After [finding Melendrez] I was surprised at how quickly my progress came along.”

She took a step back to move forward. She left the Southern California Athletics travel team, which had finished second in nationals, to gain experience pitching for the weaker Blasters.

“It was a pretty long season, but by the end, I had come a lot further than when I started,” Hagen said. “It was the best thing for me.”

It was also a good recruiting move. “If you’re not a pitcher or catcher, it’s really tough, unless you have a phenomenal bat,” Hagen said. “I wouldn’t say my bat is phenomenal.”

She showed enough promise as a pitcher to sign with Ohio, a Division I school.

Hagen pitched last year for Marina with little more than a rise ball, going 14-4 and leading the Vikings into the second round of the playoffs. She added a screwball, drop and changeup this season and is 19-3 with a 0.29 ERA.

“It’s her mental toughness that has allowed her to succeed,” Luth said. “Sometimes she doesn’t pitch that well, but mentally she doesn’t break down. She’s always tough, and the kids playing behind her feed off that.”

Hagen’s model as a pitcher is Crouch, who led the Vikings to two section titles though she wasn’t especially overpowering. Crouch’s greatest asset was that she was a big-game pitcher.

“I wanted to have her kind of composure--she deals with situations very well,” she said. “Her motivation, how she pitched and presented herself--that’s what inspired me.”

The Vikings were ranked fifth in Orange County, and only four teams in Division I, II and III section-wide have more victories, Mater Dei (27-3), Woodbridge, Pacifica (26-3) and Corona (26-3).

“Heather’s mental state affects our team,” Luth said. “Her confidence and composure reassures the team that she’s in control.”

Good thing, because Hagen is.

“I like the game riding in my hands,” Hagen said. “I hate losing. That’s my motivation. Anything it takes to not lose, that’s what I’ll do.”