Woodbridge’s New Diamond Is a Real Jewel

The newest softball venue in Orange County really is a shiny new diamond. Woodbridge High christened its field, located at the Irvine Civic Center, in its Sea View League opener against Laguna Hills on Wednesday.

The $7-million project, named the Col. Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park, features Championship Field, which has 700 stadium seats gleaned from the old Anaheim Stadium. It also has lights, and will eventually include three other playing fields. It will be the site of next year’s 32-team Woodbridge Classic softball tournament, and might one day be the site of the Southern Section championships.

“We would like to have it as an alternative to [Lakewood] Mayfair Park,” said Woodbridge Coach and Athletic Director Alan Dugard. “This is a softball stadium, intended to be for softball only. It’s deep enough you could play coed there, but it’s not going to be a baseball field. It will never have a mound on it. It stands to reason there should be a lot of interest using this for premier events.

“We’re excited about it.”

So, too, are Woodbridge’s opponents.

After the Warriors defeated Santa Margarita, 2-0, on Thursday, Dugard asked Eagle Coach Tammy Delp about scheduling another nonleague game next season and if she wanted to play it in Rancho Santa Margarita.

“We want to play it right here,” Delp responded.

The stadium, which doesn’t officially open until June, got its first official use on Wednesday, when Woodbridge beat Laguna Hills, 7-4, in nine innings.

“It would be nice to walk away with a win,” Dugard said beforehand, “but I would rather open with a big game like this rather than someone we might not have any trouble with.”

The stadium’s fence is 210 feet from home plate for high school softball, with a permanent fence at 270. Drainage is so good, Dugard said, “we could have a pretty good storm and still play the next day, or later that day.”

“This gives us a whole different look,” Laguna Hills Coach Cary Crouch said. “This makes you feel special to play a Sea View League game.”

Laguna Hills will play on a new field next season, at a park being built adjacent to the high school.

For the record, the first pitch was thrown by freshman Brittany Crouch, and it was fouled off by Leslie Simien. Senior Breana Bohls got the first hit, pulling a line drive to right field. Woodbridge senior Jennifer Hoops scored the first run on senior Breanne Cooley’s RBI single.

The stadium is a promise kept by Dugard, who is chairman of Irvine’s Community Services Commission, which does all park approval. Deanna Manning, a former professional softball player and the director of community services, and the Irvine City Council were driving forces behind the project.

“I promised the seniors four years ago they would one day play in the stadium,” Dugard said. “This is something city leaders, in conjunction with softball people in town, have worked on for 10 years.”

Among the facility’s most impressive features are the huge, pristine dugouts, which made a sizable first impression on the Warriors, Dugard said. “The kids wanted to know where the Muzak was.”

AROUND THE BASES

* Kim Sanders’ RBI single in the bottom of the 13th inning that beat fourth-ranked Kennedy was the second consecutive game-winning hit for El Dorado’s sophomore catcher. She also beat Cypress with a game-winning triple in the bottom of the seventh.

* Kennedy third baseman Jennifer McCard missed both upset losses last week because of an ankle she sprained stepping on a pine cone. “I was coming down some stairs at a park,” she said. “I just stepped on it and rolled my ankle. I’ve never had to sit out before. It was horrible.”

* Winning pitcher Krista Davidson scored on an RBI single by Amber Clark on Wednesday, giving Laguna Beach a 1-0 victory over Santa Ana. It gave the Artists their sixth victory, already an improvement on their 5-17 record last season. Laguna Beach, now 7-7, had nine victories the previous four years combined.

* Fountain Valley’s Kristin Crowder had a pretty good day for an eighth-place hitter. Her second-inning home run against Cerritos’ Jessica van der Linden provided a 1-0 victory in a semifinal of the Baron Classic. In the championship, Crowder, a junior catcher, added a second-inning RBI single in a 1-0 victory over Foothill, which was ranked No. 2 in one national poll.

* In the Fountain Valley-Cerritos semifinal, each pitcher faced only one batter over the minimum. Van der Linden struck out 14 and allowed only one baserunner, Crowder, on the homer; Natalie King pitched a two-hitter and struck out 10.

* King’s 16 strikeouts in the championship were the most against a Foothill team since 1990.

LOOKING AHEAD

With only four teams in the Serra League, there is little room for error, and the big bats at Rosary will get their first look at Tia Bollinger and top-ranked Mater Dei today at Mile Square Park. Also today, Los Alamitos, led by hitters Phelan Wright and Kristin Farber, hosts second-ranked Fountain Valley in the Sunset League.

On Wednesday, the Sea View League features a matchup of former Pacific Coast League rivals, seventh-ranked Laguna Hills at Aliso Niguel. On Friday, Aliso Niguel plays at Woodbridge, and Irvine is at Laguna Hills.

The powers in the Olympic League meet Thursday, when ninth-ranked Orange Lutheran plays at Calvary Chapel.

The Michelle Carew Classic, which begins Friday at Peralta Park, continues through April 19. The tournament features Foothill, Rosary and Diamond Bar on the same side of one bracket, along with two teams that figure to provide the best first-round matchup--Orange Lutheran vs. Chino Hills Ayala at 5 p.m. on Friday.

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If you have an item or idea for the prep softball report, you can fax us at (714)966-5663 or e-mail us at martin.henderson@latimes.com