After countless championship games in recent years for their three fellow in-city neighbors, it is finally time for Mary Star High softball to have their moment in the sun.

San Pedro and Port Of Los Angeles High have combined to win 19 CIF-Los Angeles City Section championships, with the Polar Bears' recent third straight Small Schools Division title a few days ago being the most recent. Rolling Hills Prep was CIF-Southern Section runner-up on two occasions. After two previous semifinal appearances, Mary Star earned its very first championship game with a 2-0 win over Rosamond Tuesday.

Now it's the Stars time to really shine, as they take on Bellarmine-Jefferson of Burbank in the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 championship game at Deanna Manning Stadium (Bill Barber Park) in Irvine at 10am.

Both teams took similar routes in interesting fashions to make it to this title tilt.

Mary Star (20-8 overall) competed in Division 5 last season and dropped a division down, while Bell-Jeff (22-10) was last year's Division 7 runner-up to Pomona Catholic and moved a division up. Both had slow starts, with the Guards starting the season 2-7, but have won 20 out of their last 23 games since then. Mary Star had a rough go-round in the Redondo Tournament, going 1-3, but have won 19 out of their last 24 games.

Bell-Jeff and coach Florencio Galindo are riding a nine-game winning streak into the finals, winning the Santa Cruz League championship with an 8-0 mark.

The Stars and coach Gregg Aguilar meanwhile are riding a ten-game winning streak, sort of, heading into the championship game against the Guards. Many feel that Mary Star is fortunate to reach the title game considering they had a 1-0, nine-inning loss to Shadow Hills in the second round of the playoffs reversed due to Shadow Hills being caught for taking an illegal pre-game batting practice prior to the game's beginning.

Make no mistake about it, the Stars are in the finals, and they deserve to be here. 

On the road to the finals, Mary Star has defeated Chadwick of Rolling Hills Estates, 4-1, the forfeit win over Shadow Hills, knocked out top-seeded and two-time defending champion Pomona Catholic 5-0, then their rousing semifinal win over Rosamond. Bell-Jeff made it here by beating Frazier Mountain of Lebec, 10-1, Polytechnic of Pasadena, 8-0, Cantwell Sacred-Heart of Montebello, 3-1, and their 5-1 semifinal win over Santa Paula.

The key to this game may come down to who will want it more offensively.

Bell-Jeff has a two-pitcher combination with senior Karina Hernandez and junior Mia Acosta, who will most likely start the championship game considering she has a 10-2 record with a 1.95 ERA. Having two good pitchers is a great asset to have, but Mary Star has one extraordinary pitcher in sophomore Marina Vitalich, who has been in all of the Stars' decisions, striking out 241 batters this season.

Vitalich was lights out in the semifinal win over Rosamond, and may need a similar effort to neutralize the Guards as Acosta (.492 BA, 4 HR, 34 RBIs) is a dangerous hitter. Bell-Jeff is also paced by senior infielder Monique Landini, junior C/DH/INF Sofia Palacios, junior infielder Cristina Colon, junior OF/INF Priscilla Panzino and junior C/OF/INF Samantha Casarez.

Mary Star counters with an opportunistic hitting team paced by Vitalich, senior catcher Amber Nunez, senior second baseman Rikki Legaspi-Valdez, senior third baseman Cassie Demers, senior first baseman Mariah Marquez and sophomore shortstop Lexie Geich, who had the biggest hit of the semifinal win over Rosamond with her RBI-triple in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Experience plays a major factor in this game, as Bell-Jeff has eight players back from last year's CIF-SS Division 7 runner-up team, and is junior-oriented with only one freshman, two seniors and two sophomores.

Another key could be Mary Star's outfield starters. Due to Vitalich's recent dominance as of late, juniors Jenna Clarke (LF), Emily Buczko (CF) and Christina Padilla (RF) are hardly tested. However, Padilla has picked it up in the playoffs offensively and caught two outfield flies in the win over Rosamond. 

All of these things are what to keep a close eye on in Saturday's final, which is only the sixth CIF-Southern Section final in Mary Star's near 100-year sports history. The 1960 football team was the very first CIF-Southern Section runner-up. The girls volleyball team was runner-up three times, with the most recent year being 1998 when they were led by Sarah Gascon. The baseball team of 2002 was the last Mary Star team to reach a title game.

The Stars have never won a CIF championship despite all of this...

Maybe the softball team... in a true softball town, can rewrite history for the Stars.