Softball’s Quest for State Title Begins Friday against Santa Ana

CCCAA Softball State Championships Brackets - NoCal | SoCal

TORRANCE, Calif. – The El Camino College softball team heads into the California Community College Softball State Championship playoffs for the fourth straight season, hosting No. 13 seed Santa Ana on Friday at the ECC Softball Field.

EVERYBODY'S GOT A PRICE

Tickets for this weekend's series at the ECC Softball Field can be purchased in person and the prices are as follows:

General Admission: $12
Seniors (Age 60 & Up), Children 12 and Under and Students w/ ID: $8

GAME SCHEDULE

Game 1 – Friday, May 4th (2:00 PM) at ECC Softball Field

Game 2 – Saturday, May 5th (Noon) at ECC Softball Field

Game 3 (If Necessary) – Saturday, May 5th (2:00 PM or 30 minutes after Game 2) at ECC Softball Field

FOLLOW THE ACTION

All games will be seen live on our live stream courtesy of Stretch Internet. Each game will be $7.95 but is free for those who purchased the 2018 Softball Season Plan this season.

In addition, fans can follow the action for free with the live stats feed and with our in-game updates on the softball teams' official twitter account, @_eccsoftball.

HOME IS WHERE THE FIRST ROUND IS

For the fourth straight year, the Warriors will host the opening round of the CCCAA Playoffs. The Warriors have advanced to the CCCAA Super Regionals in two of the previous three years with the only loss coming in 2016 when Fullerton defeated El Camino in three games.

YOUR CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

Warriors head coach Jessica Rapoza is wrapping up her fourth season at the helm after spending the previous five seasons at Santa Ana College, serving as co-head coach for the Dons. In her tenure at Santa Ana, the Dons went 135-78-1 and set 40 new school records. Meanwhile, in her four years at El Camino College, Rapoza has led the Warriors to four straight playoff appearances including two CCCAA Super Regional berths. The Warriors have gone 130-44 with three South Coast Conference championships.

ABOUT THE DONS AND HOW THEY GOT HERE

The Dons finished second in the Orange Empire Conference with a 23-15 overall record and 15-6 mark in OEC action, four games behind conference-champions Cypress. As a team, the Dons ranked 26th in the state in Earned Run Average (2.87), 33rd in opponents batting average (.284). Offensively, they ranked 16th in the state in stolen bases (65), 20th in walks (109) and 60th in batting average (.284).

Individually, the Dons were led by Karlee Rivera who batted .400 on the season in 37 games played. She tallied a team-high 48 hits including 11 doubles and two triples, scoring a team-high 32 runs. Jeana Gonzales (.359), Tiana Patrick (.358), and Alex Camacho (.321) all batted better than .300 on the season.

In the circle, Kali Kitsinis logged the most innings at 151 and 1/3, posting an 11-14 overall record with 63 strikeouts. Priscilla De La Torre was 13-10 on the year in 76 and 2/3 innings with 32 strikeouts.

THE WARRIORS ROAD TO THE POSTSEASON

El Camino College earned the No. 4 seed in Southern California after winning its second straight South Coast Conference, South Division crown. They went 31-9 overall and 11-1 in conference play. They logged winning streaks of 10 and 12 games during the regular season but finished off the year going 4-3 in their last seven games including their first conference loss in two years.

As a team, the Warriors led the state with 199 stolen bases. They were also ninth in runs scored (293), 10th in doubles (75), 12th in triples (15) and 10th in walks (126). They were also ninth in shutouts tossed (10) and 21st in Earned Run Average (2.73).

Diamond Lewis was named the SCC-South Player of the Year after leading the Warriors with a .492 batting average with 62 hits in 37 games played. Overall, the Warriors had 10 players with at least 16 games played that hit .300 or better on the season.

Clarissa Chiquete and Maisie Weishoff combined to record 28 of the team's 31 victories in the circle this season.