Marina takes runner-up honors

The Marina High softball team had its bid to win the Laguna Hills Tournament come up a victory short, as Orange Lutheran won the title by edging the Vikings, 3-2, on March 15 at Alicia Park in Mission Viejo.

The contest pitted two ranked Division 1 teams: Orange Lutheran is ranked second and Marina is No. 7.

The Vikings, who suffered their first loss of the season in falling to 7-1, took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning but the Lancers scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pull out the win.

Tera Blanco pitched a complete game and went on to be named Defensive Player of the Tournament, Marina Coach Shelly Luth said. Blanco has pitched each of Marina’s eight games and has a 0.61 earned run average. Offensively, Blanco is batting .625, Luth said.

The Vikings’ Sandy Simmons was also named all-tournament.

Two other Sunset League teams, Edison and Huntington Beach, reached the tournament’s final four. In the third-place game March 15, Edison scored a 15-5 win over the Oilers. Jessica Plaza had a home run, triple and run batted in and Casey Africano, Courtney Leyba and Lizabelle Talataina each homered for the Chargers.

In nonleague action, Ocean View hammered Tustin, 11-1, on March 15. In their 13-hit attack, Emily Long went four for four and Erika Jason went three for four for the Seahawks.

Junior Cassie Baughman, in her pitching debut, threw a two-hit complete game.

michael.sciacca@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeSciacca