Posted: May 11, 2013
No. 1 seed Riverside City Keeps Citrus Owls at Bay with 4-2 Win in Super Regional Game One
RIVERSIDE – The Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's fastpitch softball team, ranked No. 1 in Southern California and No. 2 in the state, kept the visiting Citrus College Owls at bay, 4-2, in game one of the Super Regional (site A) tournament Friday at Brown Field (Evans Sports Complex).
Riverside (39-3) set a club record, eclipsing the 38-13 won-lost record set by the 2003 club.
The Tigers broke out on top, 1-0, in the bottom of the second inning when seldom-used freshman DP Cassandra Vazquez (Riverside / Patriot HS) grounded out to drive in sophomore 2B Gina Grijalva (Fontana / Summit HS) who had singled up the middle to open the inning and went to second on a single and advanced to third on a fielder's choice.
Sophomore SS Natalie Barrios (Corona / Centennial HS) socked a pair of solo homeruns (her state-leading 21st and 22nd of the season) in the third and fifth innings, respectively, to give RCC a 3-1 lead.
No. 8 seed Citrus (26-13) – originally a No. 14 seed – saw its runs come via the homerun route as sophomore 3B Bre Lockett (West Covina / Colony HS) smacked her sixth round tripper of the season, a solo shot in the fourth, and freshman C Kawehi Ephan (Kalaheo, Kauaui, HI / Waimea HS) crushed her 20th circuit clout of the campaign, a solo blast in the seventh inning to get the Owls cosmetically close.
RCC sophomore RHP Chelsea Ponce (Norwalk / San Bernardino – Cajon HS) outdueled her Citrus counterpart to improve to 23-2, while freshman RHP Arianna Sanchez (West Covina / West Covina HS) saw her record fall to 16-8.
Sophomore 3B Courtney Brown (Yucaipa / Yucaipa HS) had three hits for Riverside, and sophomore CF Angela Aguinaga (South El Monte / South El Monte HS) had three hits for Citrus.
Riverside will face the No. 4-seeded College of the Canyons Cougars on Saturday, May 11, in a winners' bracket game at 3 p.m. because…
Super Regional (site A) Game Two: College of the Canyons 6, Santiago Canyon 1
The College of the Canyons Cougars (33-9) throttled the No. 5-seeded Santiago Canyon College (SCC) Hawks (32-10), 6-1, in Friday's late game. SCC will face Citrus in a losers' bracket game at 5:30 p.m.
Canyons scored twice in the first inning for a 2-0 lead and then stretched a 3-1 lead into the final 6-1 score, thanks to three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Santiago Canyon sophomore CF Morgan McGee (Garden Grove / Mater Dei HS) scored the Hawks' only run when she reached first base after striking out on a wild pitch, then stole second and third bases, before scoring on a wild pitch in the second inning.
Sophomore RHP Kimmie Lockhart (Saugus HS) went the distance for Canyons to improve to 24-5, while SCC sophomore starting RHP Josie Tucker (Irvine / Santa Margarita HS) took the loss (15-5).