Sea Kings don’t stop hitting in rout of Sage

CORONA DEL MAR — Katrina Gaar said she thought she might come up for her first at-bat and just try to slap the ball somewhere for a single.

Corona del Mar High girls’ softball coach Laura Mayberry told her junior catcher otherwise.

“My coach said, ‘No, go up there and do what you want,’ ” Gaar said. “It looked like I should hit away, so I hit away and boom! The pitch was right there.”

Leading off the bottom of the first Friday, Gaar deposited the first pitch she saw over the right-center field fence.

Corona del Mar didn’t stop hitting, piling on for a nonleague 12-1 victory over visiting Sage Hill in the season opener for both schools. The game was stopped in the bottom of the fifth due to the mercy rule.

Gaar and No. 2 hitter Ashley Varner, a sophomore shortstop, combined to bat six for seven with seven RBIs. Together, they scored six of the Sea Kings’ 12 runs. Each player had a double, in addition to Gaar’s home run.

Junior left fielder Chelsea Peterson also went three for three with a double and scored three runs.

On the mound, the post-Michelle Tolfa era began, as the four-year Daily Pilot Dream Team selection is now at Princeton. But senior Karissa Dempsey was up to the task, allowing just a run and two hits in five innings.

Dempsey, who played second base last year, walked just one and struck out seven Lightning batters.

“It was a great way to start the season,” Mayberry said. “A lot of players have to play in different positions, because we’ve been struggling to find someone to fill the position left by Michelle Tolfa on the mound. I thought Karissa had a great game. She hasn’t pitched in quite a while, but you couldn’t tell. She’s our team captain, and she really showed some leadership.”

Sage Hill scored its lone run in the top of the second inning. After Julia Schaus opened the inning with a walk, Lora Carpenter’s double put runners on second and third. Schaus then scored on Caroline Sir’s groundout to the pitcher.

The Lightning got two runners on in the third, but CdM center fielder Baylee Robertson made a nice catch on Schaus’ hard-hit liner to end the threat. Sophomore second baseman Kelsey Kaczmarek also made a couple of solid plays on hard-hit grounders to either side of her.

“We have a good defense and we’re just a big united group,” Gaar said. “Everyone gets along a lot better; last year I think there might have been a couple of individuals here and there. Everybody’s looking forward to a good season.”

The Sea Kings had hot bats even as last year’s leading hitter, Kelsey’s older sister Leslee Kaczmarek, was not yet with the team. Leslee Kaczmarek, a junior, is with the CdM girls’ water polo team this weekend as they participate in the season-ending CIF Southern Section Masters Tournament.

“Last year we had a lot of people struggling and frustrated,” Gaar said. “I think it was especially good for our season opener for everybody to get going and whacking away. It was good to finally get off live pitching in a game situation. There’s nothing like facing a real pitcher.”

Sage Hill senior pitcher Katie McKeon struck out seven in her five innings of work. McKeon has been the Lightning’s shortstop the last two seasons, but Sage has a shortage of pitchers this year.

First-year coach Beckie Gomez, McKeon’s mother, said the team is looking at developing some other pitchers “because I hate to take [McKeon] out of the infield.”

“We haven’t had a lot of time to practice and get some of our kinks worked out,” Gomez said. “But we’ve made a lot of progress just in the couple of weeks we’ve had. We have a lot of freshmen and very few upperclassmen, but it looks very promising.”

Nonleague

Corona del Mar 12, Sage Hill 1

(5 innings)

SCORE BY INNINGS

McKeon and Hoeschen; Dempsey and Gaar. W – Dempsey, 1-0. L – McKeon, 0-1. 2B – Carpenter (SH), Peterson (CdM), Gaar (CdM), Varner (CdM). HR – Gaar (CdM).

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.