Co-champions of the South Coast Conference, the Cerritos College softball team will open the CCCAA Southern California Regional Playoffs on the road. The Falcons (30-10), one of only six teams in Southern California to win 30 games this year, were seeded #10 and will travel to take on #7-seeded Riverside City College (28-11), who tied for second place in the Orange Empire Conference. The teams will play a best-of-three series starting at 7:00 p.m. next Saturday.

This will be the third meeting of the season between the Falcons and Tigers, as each team has posted one win. Riverside recorded a 7-2 win in the third game of the season back on January 31, while Cerritos won a 2-1 game in eight innings at the Bakersfield Tournament. That win was the 400th of head coach Kodee Murray's career with the Falcons.

Riverside is 15-2 at home this season and are led by Michelle Paul, who is batting .409 on the year, while seven others are batting over .300. Selena Duran, who is hitting .370, also leads the Tigers with 30 RBI. In the circle, the Falcons have faced both MacKenzie Maxwell (13-4, 98 K's) and Bailey Powell (14-7, 108 K's).

For the Falcons, they have used their power hitting to lead the way, with eight different players hitting home runs and the team posting 33 round-trippers. Sophomore third baseman Ariana Mejia (Gahr HS) is one of four starters hitting over .400 and has six home runs and 42 RBI to go along with her .423 batting average. She has only struck out once all season and has drawn 23 walks. Freshman outfielder Joanna Perruccio (Long Beach Wilson HS) is hitting at a team-leading .443 clip and also leads the state with 44 stolen bases. Sophomore first baseman Haley Whitney (Warren HS) is batting .440, while sophomore second baseman Stephanie Olivas (Warren HS) leads the team with seven home runs.

Sophomore pitcher Jamie Ramirez (El Rancho HS) is 17-8 in the circle and is hitting .409 on the year, while sophomore Kat Flores (El Rancho HS) compliments in the circle with a 12-2 record and two saves.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PLAYOFF PAIRINGS

#16 San Bernardino Valley (17-15) @ #1 Palomar (31-4)
#9 Saddleback (25-14) @ #8 East Los Angeles (29-9)

#13 Cuesta (26-13) @ #4 Santiago Canyon (32-6)
#12 Allan Hancock (26-13) @ #5 Santa Ana (32-8)

#14 College of the Canyons (22-17) @ #3 College of the Desert (34-6)
#11 Citrus (27-13) @ #6 Mt. San Antonio (32-8)

#10 Cerritos (30-10) @ #7 Riverside City (28-11)
#15 Grossmont (21-17) @ #2 Cypress (28-12)