In a 2013 year where all the schools in San Pedro had long playoff runs for the first time in years, once again Mary Star High softball sophomore pitching standout Marina Vitalich loomed large in the circle.

Vitalich helped Mary Star achieve heights that only few thought was possible to reach, and this season, the Stars weren't even picked to repeat as Camino Real League champions, let alone reach their first ever CIF-Southern Section championship game. The Stars were able to do all of that, and post their second straight 20-win season. Vitalich was involved in all the decisions due to the team not having as much depth as many others and that's why...

For the second year in a row, Marina Vitalich takes home a top honor for the San Pedro News Pilot as the 2013 Pitcher Of The Year.

After a sparkling freshman season in which she was the News Pilot Player Of The Year, Vitalich overcame a slow start where the Stars went 1-3 in the Redondo Tournament, and completely took control with basically the same set of pitches, except with a little more pop, a lot more force and even a lot more meaning.

For the year, Vitalich went 20-9 with 1.64 ERA and broke her own school record with an astonishng 249 strikeouts opposed to just 32 walks in 174 1/3 innings pitched in powering the Stars to their third straight Camino Real League title, and a playoff run that pushed Mary Star into the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 championship game against Bell-Jeff of Burbank.

Hitting wise, Vitalich was also just as good with a .368 BA, 3 home runs and 14 RBIs as the second hitter in the lineup behind lead-off hitter and senior second baseman Rikki Legaspi-Valdez. Against Bishop Montgomery of Torrance in the El Segundo Tournament consolation championship, Vitalich crushed a towering two-run homer that paced the Stars to an eventual 3-0 victory.

One of Vitalich's most memorable performances all around came in the Camino Real League season-ending showdown at Cantwell Sacred-Heart of Montebello on May 8.

Before even throwing a single pitch... Vitalich would blast an RBI-triple for the game's first run, immediately making an impact in the top of the first inning alone, also scoring the second run later in the same inning. Then she let her right arm do the rest, hurling a two-hit shutout with 8 strikeouts and no free passes.

Vitalich also had a 16-strikeout performance in a league win over St. Monica of Santa Monica, and in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 playoffs against Chadwick, she posted a 15-strikeout effort where she was seemingly unstoppable. Vitalich also hit an RBI-triple in the first inning to spark the Stars' 4-1 win while shutting out the top (Pomona Catholic) and No.4 (Rosamond) teams in the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 playoffs.

It was simply another VINTAGE Vitalich year in which she swept the Camino Real League Player & Pitcher Of The Year awards for the second straight season.

The sky seems the be the only limit for Vitalich as she gets set for the final two years of her prep career.