Marina softball coaches Dan Hay and Shelly Luth to retire after playoffs
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Coaches Dan Hay and Shelly Luth united several years ago to help rebuild Marina’s softball program.
On Friday, their progress will again be displayed as they guide the Vikings into the CIF-SS playoffs for the final time as a coaching duo.
Hay and Luth, a pair of Hall of Fame coaches, are set retire after the postseason.
The tandem leads Marina (19-8) into a Division 1 first-round game at defending champion and No. 2 seed Norco (25-2). The game marks the Vikings’ first trip to the Division 1 playoffs under Hay and Luth since 2021.
“Win or lose, they kids have done a phenomenal job,” Luth said this week. “We’re in playoffs. A lot of teams, they don’t even get to playoffs.”
“This is a very, very special group,” she added.
Hay and Luth formed a power coaching duo in 2019 with this type of competition in mind. They wanted to help restore the Vikings’ winning ways.
Last season, Marina captured CIF-SS Division 3 for the school’s first section championship since 1995 during Luth’s first tenure at the school.
“The thing that we’re most proud of is bringing the CIF championship back to Marina after all those years,” Hay said. “We truly had to build a program.”
Marina has been especially successful with seniors Mia Valbuena, Avi Valbuena and Gabriella DiBenedetto.
The trio has helped the Vikings post a 76-39-1 record since 2023.
The Valbuena twins start at pitcher and center field, respectively, while DiBenedetto plays catcher. Mia Valbuena, who signed with Michigan, lead the section with 265 strikeouts.
“A coach’s dream,” Luth said of the group.
Hay and Luth navigated their Marina journey as friends.
They competed against each other years ago in the Sunset League when Luth led Marina and Hay guided Huntington Beach.
They also work together at Premier Girls Fastpitch, a national travel ball association.
“Finishing up my career here, it’s been an absolute pleasure coaching with her,” Hay said of Luth. “She’s one of my best friends inside or outside of softball.”
Hay and Luth are both members of the Orange County softball Hall of Fame. Luth has 599 career wins. Hay has 330 career victories from stops at Marina, Huntington Beach and Canyon.
They’re both looking forward to spending more time with grandchildren in retirement.
“I’m going to just embrace, for the first time in my life, not working,” said Luth, who is retiring as a physical education teacher at Marina at the end of the school year.
Hay is running for a spot on the Fountain Valley city council.
“I’m going to make her my campaign manager,” he said of Luth with a laugh.
NOTES
Second-year La Habra coach Vince Peralta has resigned for health reasons, he confirmed. The Highlanders play host to Los Altos in the Division 1 playoffs on Thursday. …
Other Division 1 first-round games that moved to Thursday include: Pacifica at Glendora, Yucaipa at JSerra, Los Alamitos at La Mirada and Canyon at Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. …
Santa Margarita and El Dorado both applied for at-large bids to the playoffs but came up short in the power ratings in Division 2. Roosevelt earned the final at-large bid with an 8.103 rating, just ahead of Santa Margarita at 8.084. El Dorado posted a power-rating of 7.996. …
Orange Lutheran senior Morgan Fitzpatrick’s transfer eligibility appeal to the CIF State was denied, her father Luke confirmed. …
Sunny Hills’ Elayna Marquez has 16 home run entering the Lancers’ Division 4 first-round game at Chino on Thursday. …
Fountain Valley’s Kileigh Villalobos hit four home runs with 12 RBIs in a 19-6 win against Corona del Mar in the teams’ season finale.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 3:24 PM.