The Marina High softball team capped a dominant CIF-SS playoff run with an 8-1 win over Westlake in the CIF-SS Ford Division 3 Championship final on Friday at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine. The Viking offense plated two runs in the top of the first inning and it turned out to be all they needed as University of Michigan-bound junior pitcher Mia Valbuena stifled the Warrior offense, allowing just four hits, while striking out 13.
The Vikings (19-13) hit a few speed bumps along the way, but rode a wave of momentum down the stretch, including a playoff run that saw them outscore opponents by a combined score of 32-2. Despite being a third-place team out of the Sunset League, the Vikings were given the No. 4 seed in the division bracket.
Valbuena retired nine of the first 10 batters she faced with six strikeouts. Meanwhile the offense built a 5-0 lead in three innings. Junior catcher Gabriella DiBenedetto led off the third with a single and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Mia Valbuena. Senior Rachel Ruiz singled to moved her to third and was able to take second on the throw home to prevent a run.
Avi Valbuena then ripped the first pitch she saw up the middle for a two-run single. After a fielder’s choice out, sophomore catcher Eva Mazzoti launched an RBI double off the center field fence to push the Viking lead to 5-0.
Mazzoti would drive in two more in the fifth, when she crushed another double off the center field fence, scoring Ruiz, who had walked and junior Halle Piramo who had singled with an infield hit to the shortstop. Mazzoti finished with a single and two doubles, four RBIs and Avi Valbuena was 4-for-4, with a double and four RBIs. Ruiz and Piramo each scored two runs.
