Marina softball beats Westlake to win first CIF title in 30 years

Los Angeles Times

01-06-2025

IRVINE — Mia Valbuena had offered up nothing short of sheer dominance in the circle during the postseason for the Marina softball team.
So it wasn't going to take much offensively for the Vikings to feel good about their chances in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship game.
The production came early, and then it came often.
Avi Valbuena and Eva Mazzotti each drove in four runs, as Marina beat Westlake 8-1 on Friday at Deanna Manning Stadium to deliver the program's first section title in 30 years.
The Vikings had taken the lead before Mia Valbuena, the Michigan-committed right-hander, had thrown her first pitch. It was her twin sister whose two-out, bases-loaded double scored two runs in the top of the first.
Shelly Luth, who co-coaches the Vikings with Dan Hay, called striking first in the contest 'huge.' First baseman Ava Kim had an infield single, Mia Valbuena also singled and center fielder Rachel Ruiz walked before Avi Valbuena, the designated player, laced the ball inside the left-field line.
'It just sets the pace for [Mia Valbuena],' Luth said. 'She's such a fierce competitor, and that's just insurance for her to go out there. Mia tends to think that she has to do it all on her own, and she knows it's not true, but you know, that's the funny thing about pitchers. You know, they wear it, and so we've been working really hard. …
'We have a mental coach for all of them that we brought in. She's been amazing for all of them to reset. One pitch. Don't make it bigger. Be present. Be in the now.'
Avi Valbuena said her sister gave her 'a really hard high-five' after the first-inning hit. She added a single to drive in two runs in the third inning. When she returned to the dugout, she said she received 'an even harder high-five.'
Marina (19-13) won its sixth CIF championship overall and first since 1995, when the Vikings completed a set of back-to-back Division I titles against Foothill and Mater Dei. Luth was the Vikings' bench boss then, too.
'I've been to the championship game once with Canyon,' Hay said. 'We fell short. [I have] been to the semifinals five or six times. This is my first championship, and I couldn't have written the script any better than doing it with Shelly.
'We came back out of retirement together and thought we'd be here two or three years, and this is our eighth season with Marina. Coaches strive to have their teams peak at the right time, especially at the end of the year in playoffs, and this team started to peak the minute playoffs began.'
Mia Valbuena's postseason numbers epitomized that peak performance. She allowed a total of two runs across five games in bracket play, racking up 56 strikeouts over 33 innings pitched. The junior ace struck out 13 batters in the championship game.
When the final out was recorded, the Marina bench emptied out onto the field. In short order, Mia Valbuena was crowned with a Viking helmet.
'That was me,' Avi Valbuena said. 'I brought it out and put it on my sister.'
Pride was on the mind of Mia Valbuena when asked her thoughts on ending the extended section title drought for Marina.
'Our entire school is really proud,' she said. 'It's really amazing to have this feeling right now.'
Avi Valbuena and Mazzotti (two doubles), the Vikings' sophomore shortstop, each had three hits. Catcher Gabby DiBenedetto had two hits and a run scored. Left fielder Halle Piramo scored two runs, and Ruiz reached base safely three times and scored twice.
Marina will not compete in the CIF State Southern California regional playoffs, Hay said.
Westlake (19-14) broke up the shutout in the sixth inning on a double by first baseman Lily Barrett.
After the Vikings completed their postgame engagements, their fans wrapped them in hugs as they ascended the stairs out of the stadium down the right-field line.
'It was crazy to see a crowd like that for us,' Mazzotti said. 'I'm only 15. I haven't seen a crowd like that anywhere. It was amazing. Being able to see our team come together from the beginning of the season and producing this on the field, it was awesome.'