High School Roundup: Marina splits pair to open Michelle Carew Classic

The Marina High softball team showed well in its initial action of the Michelle Carew Classic on Wednesday, splitting a pair of close games to begin the prestigious tournament.

Rylee Gonzalez laid down a squeeze bunt to score Ava Kim in the eighth inning, as the Vikings earned a walk-off victory over Chino Hills 3-2 in extra innings in the opener at Peralta Canyon Park in Anaheim.

Coral Piramo and Avi Valbuena each scored a run for Marina (12-7-1). Gonzalez recorded two of five hits for the Vikings in the contest.

Mia Valbuena went the distance in the circle, allowing two runs on six hits. She recorded 10 strikeouts and issued three walks.

Eugene (Ore.) Sheldon 1, Marina 0: A third-inning run was all the Irish needed to get past the Vikings in the night game on Wednesday in the Michelle Carew Classic.

Payton Burnham, an Arkansas commit and the Gatorade Player of the Year in Oregon in 2023, struck out 14 in a one-hit shutout for Sheldon (5-1).

Mia Valbuena recorded a dozen strikeouts of her own in defeat.

Long Beach Millikan 8, Huntington Beach 0 (five innings): The Oilers dropped their opening game of the Michelle Carew Classic on Wednesday.

Freshmen Maleah Humble and Willow Kellen accounted for the two hits produced by Huntington Beach (11-3), which also took a 4-3 loss against Millikan (12-7) on Feb. 13.

Riley McAndrew had three runs batted in, and Julia Dizon drove in two more runs for the Rams