Marina’s Crouch Follows Blueprint for Playoff Success

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  It has become almost routine for Marina.

Marcy Crouch shuts down the opposition and the Vikings come through with a timely hit to win.

Everything went according to plan Tuesday at Golden West as Crouch pitched a one-hitter and Marina earned a return trip to the Southern Section Division I softball championship game with a 3-0 victory over Westlake Village Westlake.

Marina will play Mater Dei for the title on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Mayfair Park in Lakewood. Marina will try to become the first team to win consecutive major division softball titles since Santa Maria Righetti completed the double in 1982.

Crouch (21-4), who has given up four hits in four playoff victories, struck out the first five batters she faced and did not allow the Warriors (24-7) to hit a ball out of the infield as she won her 11th consecutive game--and ninth consecutive playoff game over two years. Crouch has given up only one earned run in her last 112 innings. Marina collected eight hits, three of them by senior Faith Fuata. The Vikings (23-5) got consecutive singles from Heather Williams and Fuata to lead off the second inning but couldn’t score.

In the third, Marina put two runners on with one out. Lynette Velazquez lined out hard to first and Williams followed with a fly ball over the head of center fielder Cathy Davie, who got a jump on it and caught it to keep the game scoreless.

Marina finally took the lead in the fourth as Fuata led off with a triple down the right-field line. She scored on Angela Burke’s ground ball. Singles by Becky Thompson, Velazquez, and Fuata in the fifth put Marina up, 2-0. Thompson added an RBI single in the sixth for the final Viking run.

Arin Carlson had the only hit for Westlake, beating out a ground ball to second baseman Thompson to lead off the seventh.

“Losing a no-hitter late is disappointing, but the important thing is that we won and that we’re going back to the finals,” Crouch said. “The frustrating thing is that if they’re going to get a hit, I’d want it to be a better [hit] ball than that.”