Canyons Is King Behind Barber Ace

College of the Canyons freshman Tommy Barber’s hole-in-one on the 196-yard, par-three ninth hole at Kern River Golf Course in Bakersfield on Monday was the first for a Cougar since Shane O’Brien accomplished the feat in 1991.

Barber, who shot 146 in two rounds, helped Canyons win the WSC finals with a score of 719, five strokes ahead of Bakersfield.

The Cougars finished WSC play with a 78-6 record, claiming their fourth consecutive conference title.

Canyons plays in the Southern California Regional on Monday at Rio Bravo Country Club in Bakersfield. The top four teams in the regional advance to the state championships May 14 at Northridge Country Club in Sacramento.

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Canyons, Ventura and Antelope Valley are among the 16 teams playing in the Southern California softball playoffs Saturday and Sunday.

Ventura (31-11), seeded No. 6, is in a four-team regional at Fullerton College. The Pirates meet No. 11-seeded Cypress (29-15) in a first-round game Saturday at 2 p.m.

Canyons (26-11), seeded No. 8, faces No. 9 Riverside (25-14-2) in a first-round game at Long Beach City on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Antelope Valley (26-8-1), seeded No. 10, opens play in the regional at Palomar against No. 7 Pasadena City (25-16) on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Canyons won its third consecutive Western State Conference Southern Division title and Ventura won the WSC Northern Division championship. Antelope Valley placed second in the Foothill Conference.

The winner of each double-elimination regional, to be decided Sunday, advances to the eight-team state championships May 11-13 in Fresno.

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It’s down to the wire in the WSC Southern Division baseball race.

Glendale (28-10, 18-6 in conference play) hosts Citrus (28-8, 18-6) today at 2:30 p.m. at Stengel Field for sole possession of first place in the division, and the teams meet in a regular-season finale Saturday at 1 p.m. in Citrus.

At stake is an automatic berth to the Southern California regionals.

The Vaqueros defeated Citrus twice this season, 5-4 on March 20 at Stengel Field and 5-2 March 22 at Citrus.