CCCAA Regional Round Two Preview: Citrus @ Palomar College Super Regional

A preview of this weekend's second round of the California Community College Athletic Association Regional Softball Playoffs. The Owls will take part in a double-elimination four team tournament with the winner advancing to the 2015 CCCAA State Championships next weekend at Bakersfield College. #1 Palomar College is hosting the weekend, along with #4 Citrus, #5 El Camino College, and #11 Cerritos College. The Owls open the weekend on Saturday at 4:00 PM against the fifth seeded Warriors.

About this Weekend's Potential Match-Ups
Citrus vs El Camino
The Owls opened up the weekend against El Camino College on Friday afternoon. Citrus has played the Warriors just twice since the 2007 season. The Owls won both meetings 5-2 on a neutral field back in 2007, and then 11-1 more recently at El Camino in 2013.

Citrus vs Palomar
If the Owls were to meet Palomar College at any point throughout the weekend, it would be the seventh meeting between the two schools since the 2007 season and the second this year. The Comets are 5-1 against Citrus, including an 8-4 victory over the Owls earlier this year in Glendora. In that game, it was just the second contest of the year for Citrus, and the Owls committed six total errors and gave up 11 hits to the Comets. Palomar sophomore short stop Kali Pugh was 3 for 4 in the win, while Citrus was paced by sophomore third base man Erinn Jaramillo who went 3 for 3.

Citrus vs Cerritos
If the Owls were to meet Cerritos College at any point throughout the weekend, it would be the fifth meeting between the two schools since the 2007 season and the second this year. The Owls defeated the Falcons earlier this year 4-3 in Glendora. The Owls trailed 3-2 in through three before scoring a pair in the bottom of the fourth to go on top where they stayed. Jaramillo was again 3 for 3 at the plate for Citrus, while Cerritos was led by third baseman Crystal Cano going 2 for 3.

About this Weekend's Potential Opponents
El Camino College
Under first-year Head Coach Jessica Rapoza, the Warriors have been one of the biggest surprises of 2015, but they shouldn't have been based on Rapoza's record as the Co-Head Coach at Santa Ana College the previous five seasons. The Warriors went 30-10 during the regular season and won the program's first South Coast Conference Championship since 1989 and just their second ever. In the first round of the post-season, El Camino swept #12 Fullerton College 2-0 and 8-3.

The Warriors offense is paced by sophomore short stop Tori Garcia who was a 1st team All-South Coast Conference Selection, a 3CFCA All-State honoree, and an NFCA All-American. Garcia hit .445 with 50 runs scored and 23 RBI's, while leading the State in stolen bases with 40 so far this season. Garcia isn't the only El Camino offensive threat though, as sophomore pitcher Reina Trejo (the South Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year) drove in 36 RBIs to go along with a 2.98 ERA, and 14-8 record. Freshman catcher Gabby Fordiani hit .415 and drove in a team high 40 RBI's, belting 15 doubles and six home runs. Treijo was a 3CFCA All-State selection, while Fordiani was named to the 3CFCA All-SoCal team.

Palomar College
In her five seasons at the helm of the Comets, Head Coach Lacey Craft has kept Palomar College on the top of the CCCAA Softball world. In 2013, Craft led Palomar to the program's fourth State Championship, and last year all the way to the Super Regionals where they eventually fell. This year, the Comets have picked up where they left off and spent most of the season as the top ranked team in Southern California. Palomar won the Pacific Coast Conference for the 32nd time in program history, and earned the #1 seed in the post-season. Palomar is currently 35-3-1 after sweeping #16 Cuesta College in the first round of the playoffs.

On the field, Palomar had four players named 3CFCA All-State (Kali Pugh, Summer Evans, KK Fronda, Brooke Huddleson), another named 3CFCA All-SoCal (Iesha Hill), the South Coast Conference Pitcher (Evans) and Player (Pugh) of the Year, as well as two NFCA All-American selections (Pugh & Fronda). Pugh batted a team leading .559 with a team best 59 runs scored, drove in a team high 58 RBIs, and led the team with 13 home runs. Fronda meanwhile hit .470 with 35 RBIs and 55 runs scored, while Huddleson batted .477 with 36 RBIs and 42 runs scored. Evans was top notch in the circle, posting a 0.72 ERA with a 23-3 record and 104 strikeouts on the year.

Cerritos College
With 13 years of experience as the Head Coach of Cerritos College, Kodee Murray has established the Falcons as a perennial contender in Southern California and beyond. The Falcons have been in the post-season 13 straight years under the guidance of Murray and won the State Championship in 2008. This season, the Falcons are 25-17 after finishing in third place in the South Coast Conference. Cerritos was seeded 11th in the playoffs and promptly knocked off #6 College of the Canyons in back-to-back games 7-1 and 11-8 in the first round of the post-season.

Sophomore first baseman Crystal Cano has led a strong Falcon offense hitting .460 with 61 RBIs and 38 runs scored. Cano slugged .885 with 11 doubles and 14 home runs, earning 1st team All-South Coast honors and 3CFCA All-State honors. Freshman third baseman and pitcher Jennifer Navarro proved potent at the plate, hitting .358 with 34 RBIs and 25 runs scored. In the circle, Navarro (13-9, 3.99 ERA) has split time with sophomore Ana Pedroza (12-8, 3.51 ERA).

Last Time Out
The Citrus College Softball team advanced to the "Super Regionals" for just the second time in program history last weekend after sweeping #13 San Bernardino Valley College at home, 5-1 and 13-5. In the series opener last Saturday, freshman pitcher Anissa Gallegos tossed a complete game, six hitter, surrendering one run and two walks, while striking out one. Sophomore Kiana "Kalei" Guillermo went 3 for 3 at the plate, scoring two of Citrus' five total runs. Freshman Jessica Brown was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

On Sunday, Citrus fell behind early and trailed 4-1 headed into the third inning. That's when the Owls picked things up, scoring 12 runs over the next four innings to mercy rule the Wolverines in six innings. Brown went 3 for 5 with three runs and three RBIs including a mammoth home run in the top of the sixth that sealed the game. Jaramillo was 3 for 5 with two runs and three RBIs, while freshman Stephanie Noriega went 4 for 5 with four runs scored.

Owls in the Super Regionals
This is just Citrus' second trip to the Super Regionals in program history. The Owls advanced this far back in 2013, after upsetting #3 seed Cypress College in the first round. The first round victory sent the Owls to then top seeded Riverside City College who hosted the second round of action. Citrus lost 4-2 in the opening contest to the #1 Tigers, before being eliminated in the second day of action by Santiago Canyons 4-3 in eight innings.

How to Follow
There a few ways to follow this weekend's CCCAA Playoff action. The first would be to attend in person at Palomar College where General Admission is $10, while Faculty, Staff, Students, Seniors 60+, and Children 12 and Under (all with ID), are $7.

If you can't make it down to San Marcos in person, you can follow along live on Twitter where @ccfightingowls will be tweeting from the field. In addition, the Owls will be utilizing brand new technology in the Periscope app available for an iOS device, with periodic live video streams of the action. Make sure to follow @ccfightingowls on Twitter for all the latest info regarding that.