Fountain Valley Gets Better When It Counts

Fountain Valley, one of Orange County’s most underachieving softball teams last season, suffered a horrible start in 1998. So when the Barons opened Sunset League play Tuesday against the county’s sixth-ranked team, there was ample opportunity for the slide to continue.

But Fountain Valley responded with a first-inning run and flawless defense to beat host Marina, 1-0.

“The preseason [record] doesn’t mean anything to us,” Fountain Valley Coach Cary Baker said. “We kept working in practice on the things we weren’t doing right.”

Defense had been Fountain Valley’s primary problem. Shortstop Lovianne Jung’s over-the-shoulder, backhanded catch of Alicia Velazquez’s short fly ball leading off the seventh inning was a good example of the Barons’ clutch defense. Jung, acknowledged as one of the county’s best players, has committed 16 errors.

“She’s the only one on the team who can make that play,” Baker said. “It was huge. If she doesn’t make it, they have a leadoff runner on, all the momentum goes [to Marina] and we’re thinking, ‘Here we go again.’ ”

Fountain Valley is 5-9, 1-0 in league, and has won two in a row. Though the nonleague record may not mean much, it was hurting the confidence of the players. Last year, the Barons finished 14-15, failing to live up to their lofty expectations. Marina is 7-4-1, 0-1.

The defense didn’t make an error behind Colleen Burdick, who gave up two hits and two walks. Three of Marina’s four baserunners reached base after two outs.

“We’re there,” Baker said. “Our team earned-run average is 0.70. We’ve had good pitching and tons of hitting, but we made too many errors.”

Burdick (2-5, 0.66 ERA) struck out eight. Marina’s Heather Hagen (5-3), who also pitched a two-hitter and walked two, including Burdick leading off the game.

After Kirin Kumar’s sacrifice bunt, Jung--a transfer from Ocean View--hit a hard grounder past diving third baseman Carrie Hagen. Burdick scored on Jung’s double.