Just enough is all Mary Star High softball seems to need... and it's working.

Showing not much effects from a eight-day layoff after claiming their third straight Camino Real League title, the Stars would once again chip away with a 4-1 victory over visiting Chadwick of Rolling Hills Estates in a CIF-Southern Section Division VI first round game at the San Pedro Softball Complex. Sophomore pitcher Marina Vitalich would add to her already growing legacy by hurling a six-hitter with a walk and 15 strikeouts to pace Mary Star (16-8 overall).

It wasn't without a short scare from the Dolphins (8-9) however.

Lydia Krauss hit a single to lead off the top of the seventh inning, then Kyla Brooks advanced her to third base with a double. A three-run lead that seemed so secure was almost in peril, but Vitalich would slam the door shut by striking out the side for Mary Star's seventh straight win.

Mary Star would get things going early in the bottom of the first inning.

Senior second baseman Rikki Legaspi-Valdez led off the inning drawing a walk, then stole second. Vitalich would blast a triple to right field to drive her home for a 1-0 Stars edge. Senior catcher Amber Nunez would then deliver a single to bring home Vitalich later on in the inning for a 2-0 Mary Star advantage.

In the second inning, junior right fielder Christina Padilla's fielder's choice would bring in junior center fielder Emily Buczko, who would score after Chadwick's catcher dropped the ball on a close play at the plate, then in the third inning, a fly ball smash from senior first baseman Mariah Marquez was dropped, allowing Nunez to score to give the Stars a 4-0 lead.

Senior third baseman Cassie Demers led off the bottom of the third inning with a booming triple but was later tagged out at the plate trying to score off a wild pitch.

Vitalich would notch her 200th strikeout this season after striking out the side in the top of the fourth inning, and would need every strikeout imaginable from there in the final three innings as Chadwick's pitcher Nicole Shearrin would pitch three perfect innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth to keep Mary Star off the scoreboard for the remainder of the day.

Shearrin, who went 2-for-3 with a double, would break up the shutout in the top of the sixth inning with a two-out RBI-single, but Vitalich remained undaunted, striking out eight out of the last 14 batters she faced from the start of the fifth inning to the end to seal the win.

The Stars got added encouragement when alumni players such as Emily Demers, Alyssa Gutierrez, Soliel Atenza, Kristin Legaspi-Valdez and Alina Rivas all came down to support them for this playoff game.

Mary Star will face Shadow Hills of Indio on Tuesday in the second round at a site to be determined by a coin flip.