Pacifica Learns Lessons the Hard Way

Rain created scheduling problems for softball tournament directors last month, and it created a rare situation for Pacifica last week.

The Mariners played in championship games of different tournaments on consecutive days, each time against the tournament host. Pacifica played top-ranked Foothill on Friday in the Foothill tournament, and fifth-ranked Canyon Saturday in the Michelle Carew Classic.

It did not go well for the Mariners. Foothill beat them, 6-0, and Canyon won, 1-0.

“I told the kids at the beginning of the week, we’ll see what we’re made of,” said Rob Weil, Pacifica’s coach. “These games give us a gauge of where we need to be [next week during the playoffs].”

Despite losing twice, players for sixth-ranked Pacifica (20-6) managed to come up with a positive spin.

“This opened our eyes up,” said third baseman Mallorie Lenn. “We know what’s out there for [the playoffs], and we know what we have to do to improve.

“We definitely need to be more intense. There’s a lot of great teams who will want to come out and get us.”

Pacifica, which is in Division III, has been to the Southern Section finals the last four seasons. The Mariners won three in a row before losing last year to Hacienda Heights Wilson.

“We prepared ourselves to play these two championship games with the mentality of bettering ourselves as a group, and we learned a lot from the last two games,” said second baseman Jodie Legaspi. “If someone’s down, we have to make sure someone picks up the slack.

“It’s always nice to come out winning, but if you learn something and better yourself, nothing is lost, really.”

WEIRD WEEK

How tough--or is it unusual--is the Sunset League? Fountain Valley had its 15-game winning streak ended on Thursday by Los Alamitos, 4-0. Two days earlier, Los Alamitos had lost to Edison, 8-0, marking the Griffins’ fifth loss in a row.

Fountain Valley lost its two-game lead over Esperanza and can’t afford another slip against either Edison today or rival Marina on Thursday.

TO THE LIMIT

Kennedy’s resurgence in the Empire League was expected when Michelle Turner returned to the pitching circle. But the rest of the league, which beat Kennedy with Turner out of the lineup, hasn’t gone down without a fight.

In Kennedy’s victory over El Dorado, the Fighting Irish needed three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win, 3-2. In its victory over Cypress, Kennedy again scored in the bottom of the seventh to win, 1-0.

The tough-luck player of the week had to be El Dorado’s Kristen Karanzias, who had a perfect game against Kennedy until giving up three runs in the seventh.

El Dorado and Loara are tied for first place with 6-2 league records, and play today at Loara. El Dorado finishes with Century (1-7), while Loara finishes against Cypress (5-3). Kennedy (5-3) closes with Century and Katella (1-7).

LOOKING AHEAD

The Empire League isn’t the only league whose champion will be decided when the principals play each other during the last week of the regular season:

Freeway: Sonora and Troy were tied headed into this week and play again today at Troy.

Orange: Brea leads Savanna and Valencia by one game. Savanna and Valencia play today, and Brea plays at Valencia on Thursday.

Serra: Mater Dei is one up in the loss column over Rosary and Santa Margarita. Rosary plays at Santa Margarita today. Mater Dei plays Rosary Thursday.

South Coast: Dana Hills and Capistrano Valley are tied for first and play today at Dana Hills.

If you have an item or idea for the softball report, you can fax us at (714)966-5663 or e-mail us at martin.henderson@latimes.com

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SOFTBALL TOP 10

Orange County Sportswriters’ Poll

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Pos. School League Rec 1. Foothill (1) Century 26-2 2. F. Valley (2) Sunset 22-6 3. Kennedy (3) Empire 17-6 4. Canyon (5) Century 21-7-1 5. Pacifica (6) G. Grove 20-6 6. Esperanza (7) Sunset 18-5-1 7. Mater Dei (9) Serra 16-8 8. Rosary (4) Serra 18-9 9. S. Margarita (8) Serra 18-7 10. Lag. Hills (10) Sea View 21-5

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Last week’s rankings in parentheses

Others: Capistrano Valley (18-7-1), Cypress (17-6), Dana Hills (17-8), El Dorado (16-9), El Modena (15-9-1).