Boxley Is Hoping for a Replay of Last Year
They call it the postseason, but last year’s State tournament was a beginning of sorts for Jackie Boxley.
Boxley, a sophomore right-fielder, and her Cypress College teammates can only hope this year’s tournament, which begins Friday at the Sacramento Sports Complex on the campus of American River College, turns out like last year’s.
Last year, the Chargers won the State title at Golden West College. Boxley hit .364 and was selected the most valuable player. She had a three-run homer in the opening-round victory over Ohlone. She also had two hits in the championship game against Chabot after barely hitting .200 during the regular season.
“That tournament gave her all the confidence she needed,” Coach Brad Pickler said. “She really turned the corner there. It showed her she could hit the faster pitching.”
This season, Boxley is hitting .284 with five doubles, two triples, two home runs and 15 runs batted in.
After spraining her knee March 13, Boxley missed six conference games and Cypress slumped in her absence. The Chargers lost three of the six and fell out of first place. They finished 17-4 in the Orange Empire Conference, a game behind champion Orange Coast.
“It was pretty devastating to us,” Pickler said about losing Boxley. “It took us about a week to get over it and start playing well again.”
Boxley, who is being recruited by several colleges, including Colorado State, Kansas and Florida State, was better known for her basketball skills at Savanna High School, where Pickler was her coach.
She came to Cypress to play both basketball and softball. As a freshman, she averaged 12 points and eight rebounds per game. But the team finished 2-27, so Boxley decided to stick with softball.
“Last year,” Boxley said. “My attitude was no pressure. I hope we all take in the same attitude this season and do well.”
Softball pairings: Palomar plays Ohlone, Orange Coast plays San Mateo, Long Beach plays Napa Valley and Cypress plays Sacramento City all at 11 a.m. Friday at the Sacramento Sports Complex.
The double-elimination tournament continues Saturday and the title game is Sunday. Cypress is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the final eight and Orange Coast is there for the second year in a row.
Baseball regionals: Rancho Santiago, Mt. San Antonio and Riverside travel to Los Angeles Pierce, the site of one of the two Southern California Regionals, which start Friday.
Rancho Santiago (28-12) plays Mt. San Antonio (29-15) at 11 a.m. and Riverside (28-13) plays Pierce (30-6-1) at 3 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.
The winners play at 11 a.m. Saturday at Pierce and the losers play at 10 a.m. at Moorpark College. The title game is at Pierce at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Rancho Santiago and Riverside are members of the Orange Empire Conference and played each other four times this season, with the Dons winning three. But its been quite awhile since Rancho Santiago played the other two teams.
The Dons last played Mt. San Antonio in 1986, when the teams were members of the South Coast Conference. Rancho Santiago last played Pierce in 1984 in the West Los Angeles tournament.
The winner of the regional at Pierce and the one at Cerritos advance to the state tournament May 23-25 at the Riverside Sports Complex against the two surviving teams from Northern California.
In the other Southern California regional Friday, host Cerritos (24-8-1) plays Cuesta (22-15) at 3 p.m. and Los Angeles Harbor (35-10) plays East Los Angeles (28-14) at 11 a.m.
Community College Notes
Saddleback’s Jamie Fouret and Makiko Suwa will be the only tennis players from Orange County competing at the State tournament starting Thursday in El Cajon. Fouret was the runner-up in the singles competition in the Southern California regionals. She and Suwa reached the quarterfinals in doubles to also qualify for State.