Vikings outlast Fountain Valley

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Not doing much running on the base paths, the Marina High softball team instead ran to the center-field fence and back during the fourth inning Thursday.

It wasn’t about being in a scoreless tie with Fountain Valley, Coach Shelly Luth explained after her team rallied for a 3-0 Sunset League victory. It was instead just about being ready to play the game.

“It’s been a long week and we’re kind of tired,” Luth said after Marina (20-3, 6-0 in league) stayed in outright first place in league, two games up with four to play. “We just came out and were a little flat. Not our best performance as far as hitting. Our defense and our pitching were pretty solid.”

Marina, ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll, got all it needed immediately after the center-field run. In the bottom of the fourth, the Vikings also got the bounces.

Jamie Sullivan walked with one out, then scored on a single to left by senior Erin Cuevas.

The throw went to second as Cuevas dug for the base, but it got away and Sullivan scored on a close play at the plate with Fountain Valley catcher Brenda Bott.

Cuevas eventually scored when fellow senior Taysia Kaufman reached on a bad-bounce ball to the shortstop.

Kaufman did the rest, shutting out the Barons (11-11, 1-5) and allowing just two hits, one to Fountain Valley junior Rochelle Rivera and the other to Bott. Sullivan pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh for the Vikings, who have won eight straight.

Senior Mariah Nogueira scored the final run in the sixth, when she singled, stole second and was batted in on another RBI single from Cuevas.

“You have to be ready every game,” Luth said. “You can’t take one team, one inning, or one batter lightly. The game is all about momentum, and momentum can shift. We’re playing good. As much as I say don’t focus on our record, we know we can win, but we have to play to win. You’re not going to win because you’re supposed to win, or because you have a good record. You’re going to win because you went out and tried to win the game.”

Fountain Valley pitcher Allison Lang, a sophomore, also pitched well with just three hits given up in five innings.

“She’s coming off an injury, and she’s come back probably five times stronger than when she started,” Coach Katie Rittenhouse said.

Rittenhouse, whose team has just two senior starters in shortstop Tracy Valdez and second baseman Kelsey Krueger, has seen the improvement from the Barons as the season’s gone on.

“We have a lot of juniors who have really adjusted,” she said. “They’re working hard.”