After finishing in second place in the South Coast
Conference, the Cerritos College softball team has
been seeded #4 for the Southern California Regional
Playoffs and will host #13-seeded Bakersfield
College in a best-of-three series starting on
Saturday. The Falcons (30-9) defeated the Renegades
(26-14) in a double-header earlier in the year at
Bakersfield College, which is the host site for the
state championships. The first game will be played
at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at Nancy Kelly Field, with
the series continuing at noon on Sunday and a third
game at 2:00 p.m., if necessary.
Cerritos recorded 7-1 and 8-4 wins on April 1st against the
Western State Conference Blue Division champions. In
the first game, freshman catcher
Jessica Roper (Mayfair HS)
clubbed a pair of home runs - including a grand slam
- and drove in all seven runs, while sophomore
pitcher
Jessica Lozano (Banning HS)
scattered eight hits over seven innings and struck
out five for the win. They recorded those numbers
against Bakersfield pitcher Julie Estep (12-8), who
was named the division's Pitcher of the Year.
In the second game, Roper collected three more hits, while
freshman shortstop
Briana Quintana (Mayfair HS)
was 3-for-5 with two RBI. The Falcons broke open a
close 2-1 game with three runs in the sixth and
seventh innings, with sophomore outfielder
Natalie Garcia (Mayfair HS)
also driving in a pair of runs. Sophomore
Gabby Villarreal (St. Joseph HS)
started the game in the circle, but Lozano came on
to pitch the final four innings to earn the win. For
the Renegades, Danielle Ayer was 3-for-4, while
pitcher Jessica Simpson took the loss.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PLAYOFF PAIRINGS
(16) Chaffey (18-18) at (1) Mt. San
Antonio (36-4)
(9) Saddleback (20-13) at (8) Grossmont (25-7)
(12) Long Beach City (23-15-1) at (5) Palomar
(24-10)
(13) Bakersfield (26-14) at (4) CERRITOS
(30-9) (14)
Ventura (23-15) at (3) Riverside (32-7)
(11) Santiago Canyon (25-13) at (6) Antelope Valley
(32-6)
(10) Santa Barbara City (31-5) at (7) Santa Ana
(26-14)
(15) Citrus (22-13) at (2) Cypress (34-6) |
