Home runs lift Pacifica to another title

Third-seeded Garden Grove Pacifica suffered through the opening innings of the Southern Section Division II softball championship game Friday at Barber Park in Irvine.

But the Mariners fought back.

Possibly the best-hitting team in the Southland, Pacifica got home runs from Andrea Harrison and Taylor Froelich, as well as a four-hit performance from Christine Hiner, to beat top-seeded La Palma Kennedy, 5-1. It is the Mariners’ sixth title in seven championship games, and third in five years.

Kennedy (29-2) scored three batters into the game when Jamia Reid singled, took second on a sacrifice and scored on a double by Monica Aguilar.

That would be enough most nights for Brooke Turner (27-2), but her 0.11 earned-run average took a beating. She gave up three earned runs, equaling the total she allowed in her previous 194 innings.

Turner had beaten Pacifica (27-7) twice in Empire League play.

The game turned with one out in the fourth inning with Harrison’s shot over the right-center field fence. Cheyenne Mascarenas singled and later scored on Noelle Micka’s single in the fifth. Froelich homered in the sixth, and errors led to two more runs in the seventh.

Pacifica won without UCLA-bound shortstop Monica Harrison, who was suspended from the game before it began.

Harrison was found to be in violation of a rule that prohibits pregame batting practice. She said she was “fooling around” during some downtime. In fact, Harrison, who bats right-handed, was batting left-handed when she was noticed by a section representative.

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martin.henderson@latimes.com