COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Cypress Looks Good Heading Into State

Two years ago, Cypress softball Coach Brad Pickler led the Chargers to a State championship.

Saturday, Cypress earned its fifth consecutive State tournament berth by rolling past College of the Canyons, 11-1, in a Southern California playoff championship game at Cypress College.

“This team has the potential to be better than the ’91 team,” Pickler said. “They just haven’t proven it yet.”

Cypress (47-18) will gets its chance during the three-day tournament that begins Friday at Riverside.

“Aside from (top-seeded) Palomar, I think everyone else is all even,” Pickler said. “I like our chances.”

After going into extra innings for both of its victories Friday, Cypress wasted no time, scoring two runs in each of the first three innings against Canyons (19-10).

The Chargers pounded out 15 hits and took advantage of nine Cougar errors to score eight unearned runs.

After Susan Dugas’ sacrifice fly scored Carrie Frederick to give Cypress a 2-0 lead in the first, Sonya Fellows got Cypress started in the second.

With one out in the second, Fellows bunted in front of the plate for a hit, and Canyons catcher Kate Stoll threw wildly over first baseman Chris Schlender’s head for a three-base error. With the ball rolling in foul ground down the right-field line, Fellows circled the bases to give Cypress a 3-0 lead.

Run-scoring singles by Kerry Moloney, Fellows and Kristi Richerson put Cypress ahead, 6-0, before Canyons scored one run in the fourth to cut the lead to 6-1.

Cypress answered with a four-run fifth highlighted by a two-run single by Jennifer Johnson, who had three hits, including a double.

The lead was more than enough for Leigh Sager (12-7), who pitched a five-hitter with four strikeouts and no walks.

Frederick had two hits and three runs scored, and Moloney and Fellows each had two hits, scored two runs, and drove in one.

In the softball regional at Antelope Valley:

Orange Coast 3, Antelope Valley 0--Jill Bishop pitched a three-hitter and Becky Elcock had a double and a two-run home run in the third for Orange Coast (26-13) in the championship game. The Pirates advanced to the State tournament for the second consecutive year. Antelope Valley finished 41-10.

In the softball regional at Long Beach:

Long Beach City 4, Fullerton 1--After defeating Fullerton, 5-0, to force the double final, the Vikings (42-2) won the championship game to advance to the State tournament. The Hornets finished 32-15-1.

At the men’s tennis state championships:

Berg and Driscoll defeated--Eric Berg and Jeremy Driscoll of Saddleback lost in the semifinals to Roger Sumberg and Al Rosen of Canada College, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6 at the Cupertino Tennis Center in De Anza.