SOUTHERN SECTION SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Marina Still Knows Way to Victory : Division I: Senior-laden Vikings beat Mater Dei, 3-0, to become first program to win five major division softball championships.

LAKEWOOD —  They were squirrelly at Friday’s practice, a senior-dominated team that already had won one Southern Section Division I championship.

Marina players threw dirt on each other. They laughed. They giggled. It wasn’t much of a practice.

But they didn’t forget how to win the big game, and Saturday night at Mayfair Park, they laughed again.

The fourth-seeded Vikings stepped up to the plate and strode into the history books with a 3-0 victory over third-seeded Mater Dei in front of about 2,500.

The Vikings became the first program to win five major division softball championships, and the first to win two in a row since Santa Maria Righetti did it during the 1981-82 seasons.

It also ended the high school career of Marina pitcher Marcy Crouch (22-4), who scattered four hits--including three to Kelsey Kollen; the Monarchs were batting .335 as a team.

Crouch, who has the reputation of being one of the best big-game players in section history, gave up only eight hits in five playoff victories.

Marina (24-5) was ranked No. 1 in the state; Mater Dei was fourth (27-5), but the Monarchs already had a victory over Marina, 3-1, on April 1. It was the only time in Crouch’s final 38 starts a team scored more than two runs against her.

But it looked as if there might be a repeat of two months ago, when the Viking defense lacked any chemistry or deftness. Leading off the Mater Dei first, Kollen hit a one-hopper to third baseman Monica Mora and beat it out--shades of the first game, when Mater Dei scored twice in the first inning.

“I thought, ‘Uh-oh, here we go again,’ ” Marina Coach Shelly Luth said.

But this time, Kollen didn’t score--Mora threw out two batters and catcher Heather Williams tagged another on a swinging bunt.

“It would have been a reminder of what we did to them last time if we could have scored,” Mater Dei Coach Doug Myers said. “If we get something going, maybe they play a little bit differently.”

They didn’t, and Marina made them pay in its next at-bat, turning in a typical Mater Dei rally.

Williams singled to right and Faith Fuata walked. Mora’s bunt was mishandled by first baseman Shealee Dunavan, loading the bases. Angela Burke’s fly to right field drove in Williams, and Fuata came home on a wild pitch.

Angela Alvarez bunted past pitcher Colleen Boddy (26-5) for a single, scoring Mora. Three runs, two hits, one error, nothing hit very hard.

“You can’t practice what this is about,” Myers said of the big crowd and all the pomp. “We were a little jittery at the beginning but I don’t want to take anything away from Marina.”

Mater Dei started four freshmen and two sophomores; Marina started eight seniors.

“I felt a three-run lead with Marcy pitching . . . Well, I had a lot of confidence,” Luth said. “Marcy tends to get stronger as the game progresses.”

Crouch retired the last seven in a row; she struck out seven, including two in the seventh. Then Jodi Schicker lined the ball up the middle and Crouch snared it at her shoelaces. She looked to first, then back to the home plate umpire, who signaled out. She smiled, then was mobbed by teammates.

“Getting out of the first inning was huge because Mater Dei thrives on momentum,” Crouch said. “This avenged our loss to them in the Fountain Valley tournament; I didn’t pitch well then and I didn’t want them to think that’s the kind of pitcher I am.”