Sunset League Games

Becky Toler singled in the bottom of the 10th inning to drive home Sandra Ross and give host Marina High School a 1-0 Sunset League softball victory over Fountain Valley Friday at Marina. Marina starter Willa Parchen allowed two hits in 10 innings, striking out eight and walking four. Fountain Valley's Rae Rice, who gave up four hits, struck out 12 and walked none. Marina is 12-9 overall and 2-2 in league play. Fountain Valley is 3-1 in the league. Fountain Valley had had a chance to go ahead with a runner on third and two outs in the top of the 10th.

In other Sunset League games: No. 6 Huntington Beach 2, Los Alamitos 0--Joel Murphy and Chancellor Daniels scored for Huntington Beach (15-4-2, 5-4-1). In the Century League: Foothill 3, Orange 0--Jimmy Grigas scored two goals and Steve Adams also scored for host Foothill (13-7-4, 6-1-2), which clinched at least a share of the league title. In the Empire League: No. 5 El Dorado 3, Cypress 0--Jay Larson scored two goals and Ryan Eldred had the other for first-place El Dorado (25-3, 9-0).

Defense was in the spotlight as Marina held off a late rally by Ocean View to defeat the cross-town rival Seahawks, 41-38, in a Sunset League girls' game Thursday night at Marina. The Vikings (14-3, 3-1 in league), ranked fourth in the county, nearly blew a 10-point lead with 2 minutes 57 seconds left to play, but escaped with the narrow victory. "This was a big game," Marina Coach Pete Bonny said.

With Cherokee Parks experiencing college basketball nirvana at Duke, the 1991-92 season figured to be something of a letdown at Marina High School. Wrong. After Marina's 68-59 victory at Edison Wednesday night, the Vikings are a credible 11-6, 3-0 in the Sunset League. With Parks, a 6-foot-11 high school All-American at center, Marina was 1-2 after three league games last season.

Shandy Robbins sat there, in tears, her 27-point, 16-rebound effort gone to waste. Jennifer Ludwicki and Nicole Strange were bounding in the air with teammates, celebrating Fountain Valley's first step toward dethroning four-time defending Sunset League champion Marina with a 63-56 victory Thursday-- at Marina. The fifth-ranked Barons (14-5, 3-0 in league) used poise at the free-throw line that they lacked the first three quarters to beat the fourth-ranked Vikings (13-3, 2-1).

Designated hitter Mike Walcott hit a fastball over the left-field fence in the 12th inning to give Fountain Valley High School a 3-2 Sunset League victory over Westminster Saturday in Fountain Valley. Walcott's first homer in his four years at Fountain Valley cleared the 325-foot sign in left and moved the Barons (16-8 overall, 9-4 in league play) into sole possession of first place with two games remaining. Westminster (16-7-1, 8-5) was bidding to move into first after losing its opening three games.

Rae Rice pitched a one-hitter and Fountain Valley High School defeated Edison, 9-0, Tuesday in a Sunset League softball game at Edison. The victory moved the Barons (16-5-1 overall, 5-2 in league play) into sole possession of first place, one game ahead of Marina and Ocean View. Rice (7-3) struck out 14 batters and allowed only a second-inning single. She also hit a three-run homer in the third. Shannon Dolan had two hits, two runs scored and an RBI for the Barons. In other Sunset League games: Huntington Beach 1, Marina 0--Pam Fogg (8-6)

J.J. Thobe pitched a four-hitter and hit three singles to lead Edison High School to a 3-2 victory over Marina in a Sunset League baseball game Tuesday at Huntington Beach. Both runs off Thobe (3-2) were unearned and came in the fifth inning when Edison committed three errors. An inning earlier, Thobe lost a no-hit bid when Marina's Robin Lindsey smashed a liner off the glove of Edison third baseman Jeff Daniel. Thobe had retired 11 consecutive batters to open the game. Edison (7-8-1, 4-4)

In a meeting of the Sunset League's top teams, Marina used an 8-0 run in the second quarter to take a 14-point halftime lead then held off Edison for a 61-49 victory Tuesday at Marina High. Traci Nakamura had 13 points and six assists and Jessica Trippet added 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead Marina, the second-ranked team in Orange County. Shandy Robbins had 10 points and 12 rebounds and Jessica Smille scored a career-high 10 points for the Vikings (11-3, 4-0).

Once they got past the bitterness, anger and shock of Coach Kevin Smith's resignation, the Huntington Beach Oilers came alive. Energized by new coach Will Cummins and the spirited play of senior forward Drew McAthy, the Oilers have recovered from a dismal showing in the Marina tournament to win their first three games in the Sunset League. Smith resigned three weeks into the season after he admitted to being in violation of the Southern Section's "association rule."