Cypress Wins 3rd Straight Title

Cypress became the first team to win three consecutive state community college softball championships when the Chargers defeated Saddleback, 11-1, Sunday in Clovis.

It was also the fourth title overall for the Chargers and Coach Brad Pickler, another first in the state.

“It feels good,” Pickler said. “I mean great. It’s awesome, it never gets old. We can’t wait to get back and start working on a fourth. We’re competitive people.”

Mandy Rockwell (35-1) pitched the first four innings, giving up a hit and an unearned run to get the victory. Rockwell went 4-0 in the tournament and was the most valuable pitcher.

Melissa Beck, the most valuable player, had two hits and drove in two runs for Cypress (58-7), which has defeated Saddleback five consecutive times this season after losing the first meeting.

Koral King, Erica Harding, Nicole Falls and Sasha Campbell also had two RBIs each for Cypress, which has a record of 177-17 over the last three seasons.

“I think some teams got tired but we were pretty much fresh the whole tournament,” Pickler said.

The loss ended an otherwise impressive season for Saddleback, which had lost to Cypress, 4-0, in the winners’ bracket final Saturday night.

The Gauchos and pitcher Tara Kroener (32-12) eliminated Long Beach, 4-2, earlier Sunday before losing to Cypress.

Jennifer Carlisle started against Cypress and gave up six hits and 10 runs (five earned) in two-plus innings. Kroener, who was 3-1 in the tournament, gave up three hits and a run in the final five innings.

Saddleback had no more than 10 players this season and much of the time were limited to nine because of injuries.

Carlisle, Michelle Thompson, Anne Skidmore and Jill Freed had RBIs in the victory over Long Beach.