Marina Gives Best Effort but Can’t Defeat El Toro

The buzz at the Southern Section Division II wild-card softball playoff game Wednesday wasn’t about who was playing, but who wasn’t.

In the end, maybe it didn’t matter that Marina was without its two starting seniors, Arizona-bound third baseman Carrie Hagen and Fullerton-bound shortstop Heather Saltarelli, who quit last week after an upset of Fountain Valley in the final regular-season game.

El Toro beat visiting Marina, 2-0, on a two-hitter by junior Robyn Ford-Feitz. Three of the Chargers’ four hits against losing pitcher Ramona Garcia (10-13) came in the fifth inning, a leadoff single by Megan Lally, a run-scoring double by sophomore Chrissy Wilkison after failing to bunt Lally to second base, and an RBI triple by freshman Stephanie Churchwell, her second triple of the game.

El Toro (20-10), with its third victory this season over Marina (15-14), travels Friday to play Del Rio League co-champion Whittier California in a first-round game.

“I told [Marina Coach Shelly Luth] before the game that if they weren’t playing me, I’d be rooting for them to win just to show those two girls,” El Toro Coach Jim Daugherty said.

Hagen, a Times’ first-team all-county infielder last season, and Saltarelli declined comment Wednesday about their decision to leave, but it was a rallying point for their former teammates.

“We just wanted to prove we could do it without them,” said disappointed junior Bree Boyer. “We played as a team today. . . . We had fun. It’s the first time in a while.”

The decision by Hagen and Saltarelli was stunning.

“If you’re unhappy, you don’t go all year and then quit when it counts--and when it’s your time to shine,” said Luth, in her 11th season as coach at Marina. “It was a clear indication they were sabotaging the program.”

Boyer said a half-dozen players complained about Hagen and Saltarelli, which precipitated a team meeting last Wednesday, the day before the Fountain Valley game.

“They had a bad attitude,” Boyer said of Hagen and Saltarelli. “They didn’t put out as much as the rest of the team. They’re leaders, and when they didn’t lead, it caused a ripple effect. We pretty much said at the meeting, if you’re not having fun, leave.”

And they did, the next day after beating the team then ranked No. 2 in the county.