It couldn't have been more fitting that the final out of the game was a fly ball to Cerritos College softball sophomore center fielder Capree Williams (Paramount HS/Bethune-Cookman University). As she waited for the remainder of her teammates to join her at the center field fence, she looked over and saw former head coach Nancy Kelly with a huge smile on her face. It was back in 1978 that Kelly led Cerritos to the state's first softball championship, which is also the only title the Falcons have won. When the rest of Williams' teammates arrived, they handed the game ball to Kelly as a team, while her eyes filled with tears. The Falcons had just culminated a season in which they defeated Mt. San Antonio College, 5-1 for their second state championship in school history at Orange Terrace Park in Riverside on Sunday.

    The state championship by the Falcon softball team was the second title in two days for Cerritos College, as the women's track and field team won their second state championship in three years the night before. In the fall, the women's soccer team won the state title, which marks the first time the college has won three championships in the same year.

    "I couldn't believe they gave me the game ball," said Kelly, who had the Cerritos field named after her upon her retirement in 2002. "They are such an amazing group of women who accomplished what they set out to do and I couldn't be more proud of them and of (head coach) Kodee (Murray). I thank God every day that we have Kodee coaching this team and am so very happy to have them succeed the way they have. Will wonders ever cease? I am standing here with tears in my eyes thinking that 1978 is happening all over again. This is so amazing."

    Cerritos (43-5), who entered the final day of the state championships as the only undefeated team, knew that Mt. San Antonio would have to beat them twice in order to win the title. Last year, the roles were reversed, and the Falcons forced a winner-take-all game before succumbing to a 4-0 score.

    But this year, Cerritos used a five-run fourth inning to give themselves enough of a cushion that they knew the title would be theirs this season. The Falcons capitalized on several Mountie defensive miscues and highlighted the inning by scoring two runs on the same passed ball.

    In the all-important fourth inning, Williams led off the inning with a ball hit back to Mountie pitcher Shelaire Rowell for a base hit. Sophomore shortstop Jenel Guadagno (Warren HS) was then hit by a pitch. Sophomore pitcher Jessica Navarro (South Gate HS) then singled up the middle to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. That was followed by an RBI double from sophomore catcher Nadine Garcia (Mayfair HS), with freshman outfielder Jennifer Salas (California HS) driving in the third run of the inning with a base hit. After sophomore second baseman Vanezza Martin Del Campo (St. Joseph HS) walked to loaded the bases, Mandy Pongs came in to pitch for the Mounties. On a passed ball, Garcia came home to score, while the throw to the plate was wild, which allowed Salas to score and give the Falcons a sizeable 5-0 edge.

    Navarro, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, surrendered a solo home run to Liz Javier in the bottom of the fifth inning, and also worked out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning to collect her fourth win of the tournament. She surrendered seven hits and saw her defense make several outstanding plays behind her, with Martin Del Campo coming up with two great plays. In the bottom of the first inning, she dove to her backhand for the third out of the inning, while she came up with another back-handed stop in the sixth inning.

    According to Murray, the win was just "a culmination of the team's collective goals since the final out of last year's championship game. The sophomores had just one focus all season long and they never wavered from it. They didn't talk about it all year - they just executed when they needed to. The team's focus all season was amazing because they did what they expected out there and took last year's experience and utilized it this year."

    The experience came in the form of eight of the 10 players in the championship game having played in last year's final game. The entire infield (including pitcher and catcher), along with one outfielder and the designated player.

    "It was a lot easier playing this year than it was last year because we knew what to expect," said Navarro. "We had to play so many games last year and it really took a lot of our energy to get to the finals. When we won on Saturday night, we knew we were in the driver's seat and liked the feeling. We viewed each opponent the same as we did with everyone else. We felt very confident that with the players we had, it was our time to win the championship and we did. I love my teammates and wouldn't want to win this with anyone else. It was nice not having to pitch six games like I did last year, but I could have gone another one if I had to. I'm just glad we took care of business in the first game because it's really hot out here."