No. 3 Marina Holds Off Los Alamitos

Within seconds, Los Alamitos’ game-winning hit became Marina’s game-ending out.

With the bases loaded and two out in the seventh, Kim Dillon hit a ball to right field that Marina’s Candace Kasulka threw to first in time to clinch a 1-0 victory for No. 3 Marina in a Sunset League softball game Tuesday.

Kasulka made the play for the host Vikings (18-5, 4-1) after the ball scooted past second baseman Nelsy Zaragoza and a diving Bree Boyer at first. Kasulka waited for Boyer to get back up, then got the ball to her with just enough time to get Dillon for the final out.

“I knew [Kasulka] had a gun out there so I wasn’t worried,” said Marina’s Steffany Stenglein, who pitched a two-hit shutout to improve to 15-2. “I was worried about our first baseman getting up in time, but it was a perfect throw.”

Instead of possibly taking a 2-1 lead, the sixth-ranked Griffins (13-7, 4-1) dropped into a three-way tie for first place in the Sunset League with Marina and Fountain Valley.

The Vikings took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Stenglein walked with two outs and made her way to third after a single by Christina Klinzing. Sara Pagano followed with a drive to the gap in left-center that scored Stenglein. Klinzing was waved home on the play, but she was cut down at the plate on a throw by shortstop Phelan Wright.

Stenglein finished with nine strikeouts and retired 17 of 18 before loading the bases in the seventh. She got out of it, though, on a pop out to third and a strikeout before the ground ball to right.

“I was real nervous; they’re a good hitting team,” Marina Coach Shelly Luth said of the seventh inning. “But Steffany beared down and had a good pitch selection.”

Starting pitcher Dillon (6-5) went the distance and gave up three hits.