Softball Freshmen Don’t Miss a Beat

Monica Harrison was still 14 when she was named starting shortstop for Garden Grove Pacifica this season. It surprised her.

After all, it was shortstop. The last Mariner to play that position was The Times’ Southland player of the year.

“Since they lost Jodie Legaspi, a great player who’s going to [NCAA champion] UCLA, it’s like big shoes you have to fill,” said Harrison, a freshman.

“They have Crystal Vieyra, who’s a senior who can play shortstop but is playing second base. I thought [Coach Rob Weil] would have gone with her before me.”

Instead, Harrison is one of four freshmen that Weil tabbed as starters for the Mariners (30-2), ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times and No. 3 in the nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Assn.

Pacifica is also playing against La Mirada for its second consecutive Southern Section Division III title on Saturday at Barber Park in Irvine.

“When you have a group of young kids with veterans who have won a [Southern Section] championship ... I thought it would be tough to mix those freshmen into the system,” Weil said.

“It’s a pretty incredible group. With four freshmen starting, I didn’t expect us to be 30-2 going into the finals.”

It didn’t take long for the younger players to buy into the Pacifica way. It happened at the Tournament of Champions in Bullhead City, Ariz., where the Mariners lost their only two games, including one to the No. 1 team in the nation, Missouri City (Texas) Elkins, 1-0.

“At the beginning of the year, we talked about pieces of the puzzle,” Weil said. “Do your part of the puzzle and we’ll be complete.”

Those freshmen fill key pieces.

Noelle Micka is the catcher and bats lead-off. She also calls pitches for junior Brittany Weil (25-2). Harrison bats second or third. Stephanie Ochoa plays left field and bats fifth. Taylor Froelich plays center field and bats ninth.

Micka is batting .297 and has scored 22 runs. Harrison is batting .341 with 27 runs and 27 runs batted in. Ochoa is batting .411 with 19 RBIs, and Froelich is batting .303 and has scored 17 runs.

Micka, who won’t turn 15 until Nov. 1, said she wasn’t worried about fitting in. “I was worried about working hard and being up to the same level as everybody else,” she said.

Hard work -- and talent -- was the great equalizer.

“They’ve adapted really well,” said Vieyra, one of four senior starters. “We know they’re here for a reason. They wouldn’t be on the team if they couldn’t play at the level they needed to play.”

A fifth freshman, outfielder Alissa Giel, would have started if not for an elbow injury. She has scored 16 runs, primarily as a pinch-runner.

Next season, three incoming freshmen are likely to battle for starting positions.

On Tuesday in a Division III semifinal, Micka and Harrison each had singles in the first inning and scored in a 3-0 victory over La Habra Sonora.

Pacifica has 13 victories over teams that have been ranked in The Times’ top 25. Those victories will mean little, however, if the Mariners don’t win Saturday.

“My main goal is to win [a section title] again,” said Micka, who is then reminded that, as a freshman, she has yet to win a first one.

“I do,” she responded, when asked if she already feels as if she is a part of the Pacifica softball heritage. “I really do.”

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Southern Section Softball Championships

TODAY AT BARBER PARK, IRVINE

* Division V -- Ontario Christian (24-5) vs. Sun Valley Village Christian (21-10), 5 p.m.

Ontario Christian, in the finals for the first time since 1983 and trying to win a title for the first time since 1978, has yet to give up a run in the playoffs behind pitcher Jessica Hibma. Fourth-seeded Village Christian, led by Stanford-bound pitcher Lauren Nydam, is trying to win its second title in a row.

* Division I -- Riverside Poly (25-5) vs. Los Alamitos (22-8-2), 7:30 p.m.

Top-seeded Riverside Poly had never advanced past the quarterfinals, but did so this season behind Mindy Cowles, whose gutsy semifinal performance helped beat fourth-seeded Santa Ana Mater Dei. With pitcher Stacey Nelson, Los Alamitos has a second-round victory over Moreno Valley Canyon Springs, which tied Riverside Poly for the Ivy League title.

SATURDAY AT BARBER PARK, IRVINE

* Division II -- Corona Santiago (27-3) vs. Corona (23-8), 7:30 p.m.

Corona, the third-place team from the Mountain View League, defeated league champion Corona Santiago in the final week of the regular season on Brittney Bargar’s two-hitter. Top-seeded Santiago needed two comebacks and 10 innings to beat Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula in the quarterfinals, 7-6, but Taryne Mowatt faced only 21 batters in a 9-0 semifinal victory over Orange El Modena.

* Division III -- La Mirada (28-4) vs. Garden Grove Pacifica (30-2), 1 p.m.

It would be hard to underplay the revenge angle in the rematch of last season’s title game, in which La Mirada led, 3-0, going into the bottom of the sixth inning but lost, 9-3. The third-seeded Matadores are led by returning pitcher Alyssa Gutierrez (16-3) and the hot bat of Lacy Tyler. Top-seeded Pacifica, behind returning pitcher Brittany Weil (25-2), is unbeaten against teams from California.

* Division IV -- Westlake Village Oaks Christian (33-1) vs. Barstow (20-6), 4:30 p.m.

Barstow got one of the clutch performances of the playoffs in the semifinals from Erica Aguayo, who, in only her third pitching appearance because ace Amy Thomas was feeling the effects of an automobile accident, beat Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro, 2-1, and drove in both runs. Defending champion Oaks Christian, the top-seeded team, has won 59 of its last 60 games but hasn’t been as dominant in the playoffs as expected.

* Division VI -- San Juan Capistrano Saddleback Valley Christian (22-5-1) vs. Sierra Madre Alverno (20-4-1), 10:30 a.m.

Pitcher Katie Finley of top-seeded Saddleback Valley Christian has struck out 61.3% of the batters she has faced but needed 13 innings to get past defending champion Riverside Christian in the semifinals, setting the stage for the school’s first championship appearance in five years of varsity competition. Second-seeded Alverno, which beat the Warriors in last year’s semifinal, 2-1, in 11 innings, is led by pitcher Jessica Stewart.

Tickets: General admission $9; children $5.