The softball team of Cerritos College won its last two games against Saddleback City College Saturday and Sunday, setting the stage for the Falcons to defend its state title.
The Falcons were due to face a pitcher that is very difficult to hit off of, but with the hitting talent that Cerritos has shown throughout this season, the players and staff were confident of advancing to next round of the playoffs.
Assistant coach Bud Murray said, “We faced a tough pitcher who had beat us in our last two meetings, but after saddleback saw our hitting in a San Diego tournament, they were intimidated.”
The Falcons walked away with two mercy-rule wins this weekend.
12 hits led to 10 runs ending in a 10-2 win on Saturday and on Sunday, 14 hits led to a 12-4 win.
“The team came out confident, making great contact with the ball,” head coach Kodee Murray added. “And this was against a pitcher that was relentless, constantly giving (Cerritos) everything she had.”
The No. 2 seeded Falcons, who are on a 14-game winning streak having gone undefeated in the post-season, will be facing off against No. 3 seeded Sierra College on Friday.
According to John Van Gaston, sports information director, this will be the first meeting between the two schools, who entered the Northern Regional Playoffs as a No. 5 seeded team and No. 4 in the Big 8 conference.
As for Cerritos, the Falcons won the South Coast Conference title and have been seeded No. 2 throughout the playoffs.
On Tuesday, the head coach sat down the team after practice and asked the players to come up with worst-case scenarios that could happen during the state championship tournament.
Players started listing off issues like individuals trying to win the game on their own, players misreading signals, chasing pitches, etc.
The point that she was trying to make was that the players have to be prepared for the unexpected.
Murray said, “I know that the (Falcons) have the capabilities to go out and win every game that they play.
“The team is going to go out there and play like they do every game, hard.”
