Warriors Head to Mount San Antonio for Super Regionals; Open with Antelope Valley

TORRANCE, Calif. – No. 3 seed El Camino College is one step closer to advancing to the California Community College Softball State Championships and will look to take that step this weekend as the Warriors head to Mount San Antonio College for the CCCAA Softball Southern California Super Regionals.

The Warriors secured their second CCCAA Southern California Regional title in three years this past weekend with a sweep over No. 14 Riverside at ECC Softball Field. The Warriors outscored the Tigers 15-8 in the two-game series to advance to Mt. SAC.

Along with the Warriors and host Mounties, Cerritos and Antelope Valley will reside at the Mt. SAC Super Regional. In the other Southern California Super Regional, No. 1 Cypress hosts Palomar, Santiago Canyon and College of the Canyons. The Warriors will face No. 6 seed Antelope Valley at 8 p.m. in the second game of the day at Mt. SAC. The host and No. 2 seeded Mounties open the action against No. 7 Cerritos at 5:30 p.m.

The Super Regionals are a four-team, double-elimination format with the winners of each site advancing to the CCCAA Softball State Championships from May 19-21 at Bakersfield College.

The Warriors open the Mt. SAC Super Regional with No. 6 seeded Antelope Valley. The Marauders are 35-5 this season and won the Western State Conference, East Division with a perfect 18-0 record. They swept Santa Ana in the regional round.

Friday night's matchup will be the 31st all-time meeting and first between the teams since 2013, when the Marauders scored a 9-3 victory. Antelope Valley leads the all-time series, 20-10, but the Warriors have a 3-0 edge in postseason play. El Camino eliminated the Marauders the last time the teams met in the playoffs back in 2000.

Both teams enter the Super Regional round on an absolute tear, with AVC in the midst of a 27-game winning streak while the Warriors have won 28 of their last 29 games with their only loss coming to No. 1 Cypress in that stretch.

The Warriors enter the game ranked at the top or near the top of a number of categories in the state. They lead the CCCAA in stolen bases with 165 and runs scored with 424. The Warriors are second in triples with 35, third in RBIs (342) and fourth in on-base percentage (.463).

Meanwhile, the Marauders lead the state with 358 RBIs and are right behind the Warriors in second place with 400 runs scored during the season. They also lead the state with 60 home runs on the year and are third in on-base percentage (.467).

Both teams also feature players that were named to the 2017 National Fastpitch Coaches Association CalJC All-American team with three selections overall.

Warriors outfielder Raelani Camez was the only player to earn a second straight appearance on the NFCA CalJC South Region All-American Team. She is batting .432 on the season, which ranks sixth in the CCCAA. Camez leads the Warriors with 54 runs scored, which ranks 11th in the CCCAA. Her 10 triples lead the Warriors and are tied for the most in the CCCAA. She is currently second in the team with 51 hits on the season and also posted seven doubles.

Paige Johnson and Valerie Dorantes were each selected to the 2017 NFCA CalJC South Region All-American team for the Marauders. Johnson, who was also named the CCCAA State Player of the Year, broke the AVC record for home runs in a season as she has blasted 22 round-trippers in 2017 and drove in 97 RBI, both marks leading the state. She is also batting .577 on the season.

Dorantes is batting .439 with eight doubles, three triples and three home runs.