South No. 1 Riverside City College to Face North No. 2 Shasta in State Tournament This Friday

RIVERSIDE – The Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's fastpitch softball team, ranked No. 1 in Southern California and No. 2 in the state, and fresh off of winning the Southern California Super Regional (site A) last Sunday (May 12), has advanced to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Women's Softball Championships Tournament which is scheduled for Friday – Sunday, May 17-19, at the Dean and Adah Gay Softball Complex on the campus of Bakersfield College.

 

Riverside – 42-4 overall – will face the North No. 2-seeded Shasta College Knights (39-6) in the nightcap of Friday's action beginning at 8 p.m. At 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the state's top-ranked team, the College of San Mateo Bulldogs (41-4) will take on the South's No. 2 entry (originally seeded #4), the Palomar College Comets (30-13), who emerged from the South (site B) Super Regional (at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut).

 

Riverside will be making its third appearance in the state tournament, where two teams each from the Northern California and Southern California regions face off in a four-team, double-elimination tournament. The Tigers previously advanced to the state tournament in 2009 (finishing tied for seventh in an eight-team tournament at Salinas Sports Complex) and 2012 (finishing third in a four-team tournament at Bakersfield).

 

The weekend's state championship tournament continues on Saturday, May 18, when Friday's winners face off in game three at 3 p.m. Friday's losers meet in game four at 5:30 p.m. Saturday's game-three loser will meet Saturday's game-four winner in game five at 8 p.m. On Sunday, May 19, Saturday's game-three winner will meet Saturday's game-five survivor in game six at 12 p.m. If a second game is necessary, game seven will be played about 2 p.m.

 

Riverside has won its last three games and 34 of their last 37. Its only losses during that stretch were at Santiago Canyon College (30-9), the third-place team in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC), on March 22 (1-0 loss) and April 17 (4-3 loss) in a pair of "walk-off" setbacks in the bottom of the seventh inning, and last Saturday (May 11) when it lost, 6-5, in eight innings against College of the Canyons.  It was the Tigers first loss at home all season.

 

Answering that topical question, "What can Brown do for you?," Quite a bit, as it turns out as RCC's home, Brown Field, at the Samuel C. Evans Sports Complex, was the place where the Tigers went 21-1 at home, winning their first 19 of this season.

 

RCC then won its next three, 7-5, over Santiago Canyon, and then "mercyed" Canyons, 11-1, and, 10-0, in a pair of five-inning wins on Sunday.

 

In that "grudge match" against Santiago Canyon, RCC led, 2-0, after one inning, and then SCC led, 3-2, after 3-1/2 innings. In the bottom of the fourth, RCC took the lead for good when sophomore 3B Courtney Brown (Yucaipa / Yucaipa HS) socked a grand slam homerun for a 6-3 Tigers' lead. The Hawks socked a pair of solo homeruns in the next two innings, but in between, sophomore 1B Olivia Fimbres (Fontana / Summit HS / Colorado State U. – Pueblo) smacked a solo round tripper for an insurance run.

 

In last Sunday's (May 12) action against Canyons, in a "must win" game, Riverside posted four runs in each of the first two innings for an 8-0 lead. Freshman catcher Christina Mohl (San Bernardino / Cajon HS) had the big blow in the first inning with a two-run single. Brown, the player, not the field (although it certainly played a part), had a two-run double in the second inning. Mohl eventually had three hits to lead the Tigers to the 11-1, five-inning win in Sunday's first game.

 

RCC upped its advantage to 11-0 in the fourth when sophomore SS Natalie Barrios (Corona / Centennial HS) socked a three-run homerun (her state-leading 24^th round tripper of the season).

 

RCC sophomore RHP Chelsea Ponce (Norwalk / San Bernardino – Cajon HS) went the truncated distance in both victories and improved to 25-3 on the year. She had a no-hitter for 4-2/3 innings in the first game before Canyons pieced together a walk and a pair of singles for their only run of the day.

 

COC starting sophomore RHP Kimmie Lockhart (Saugus HS) went the distance for Canyons in the first game, but arguably deserved a better fate. She allowed 11 runs (five earned) on ten hits and five walks as her record fell to 25-6. In the second game, COC starting sophomore RHP (normally a centerfielder)  Savannah Gutierrez (Paraclete HS) went the first 3-2/3 innings and allowed all ten runs (all earned) on 12 hits and one walk as her record fell to 6-3. Lockhart came on in relief in the last 1-1/3 innings. (COC was the designated home team in Sunday's finale, game seven.)

 

In the nightcap, Brown broke a scoreless tie with a solo homerun (her tenth of the season) to centerfield in the top of the third inning. It was a harbinger of things to come. Up stepped RCC sophomore 1B Katherine Macias (Riverside – Arlington HS /Yavapai CC – Prescott, AZ) who crushed the first pitch she saw for her 17^th circuit clout of the campaign and a 2-0 RCC lead. Two Tigers later, Mohl homered (her second) to centerfield on the first pitch she saw for a 3-0 RCC lead.

 

In the top of the fourth, the Tigers put the game out of reach with a seven-run explosion. Macias (a two-run blast), sophomore 2B Gina Grijalva (Fontana – Summit HS), and sophomore DP Olivia Fimbres (Fontana / Summit HS / Colorado State U. – Pueblo) – a three-run shot – all homered in the inning, giving the Tigers an insurmountable 10-0 lead.

 

All told, the Tigers socked seven homeruns on the day, six in the championship finale, game seven. Brown had three hits in the second game and Macias (two homeruns) had three RBI.

 

Riverside won its second Orange Empire Conference (OEC) championship when it shared the crown with three-time defending state champion and South No. 3 seed Cypress (18-3 in OEC). The Chargers were upset by No. 14 seed Citrus, 10-7, and, 9-0, in the best-of-three first round.