Entering her 23rd overall season (ne season was held in 2021 due to Covid-19), Kodee Murray led her team to a magical season in 2023. The Falcons recorded a 33-16 record and finished third at the 3C2A State Championships. It was the highest finish in school history since the team won the state championship in 2008. In both the first two rounds of the playoffs, the team was extended to a third game in a best-of-three series, which sent them to the state tournament. Seeded #4 for the state tournament, Cerritos opened with an 8-6 win over the #1 team from Northern California, Sierra College and then handed conference nemesis Mt. San Antonio College an 8-2 loss. In the semifinals, they led Palomar, 2-0 but dropped a 5-3 game. Facing elimination, Cerritos was defeated by eventual state champion Cypress College, 5-1.

In her 23 seasons, Kodee Murray has established herself and the Falcon softball program as one of the state’s elite. During her career, Murray has guided her teams to the Southern California Regional Playoffs 18 times, including the last 15 full seasons (2020 was canceled due to COVID-19). She has coached her teams to 11 30-win seasons and has a career 617-274-3 record. On April 8, 2023, Murray won her 600th career win with a 2-0 victory over Fullerton College. For her efforts in 2023, Murray was named the conference’s Coach of the Year.

At the conclusion of the 2023 season, pitcher Samantha Islas and first baseman Richere Leduc were named All-Southern California for the second season in a row, while they were both selected 1st Team All-South Coast Conference for the second time. In 2022, Islas was named the South Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year, while she was joined on the All-State Team with Leduc. The team went 32-12 in 2022 and were seeded #2 for the Southern California Regional Playoffs.

In the abbreviated 2020 season, the Falcons were 7-9-1 overall and 3-6-1 in South Coast Conference play, while in 2019, the team finish second in the South Coast Conference South Division and advanced to the Southern California Super Regional, where they extended eventual state champion Mt. San Antonio College to a winner-take-all game in their best-of-three series. The team concluded the season with a 22-21 record, and saw sophomore shortstop Tena Spoolstra earn all-Southern California recognition, while also receiving the Golden Spikes Award for leading the state in stolen bases (42) during the regular season.

In 2018, Murray coached her team to a second place finish in the tough South Coast Conference South Division and into the Southern California Regional Playoffs, where they were swept by College of the Canyons. They finished with a 22-18 record. The team finished the year batting .324 and saw Briana Lopez lead the team with 19 home runs. They had their five-year streak of leading the state in walks come to an end when they finished in fourth just four free passes from tying for the state lead. For her efforts, Lopez was named All-State, while freshman Brianna Spoolstra was an All-Southern California selection. During her tenure, 63 of her players have received scholarships to play at the next level. Two of her players from the 2022-23 seasons, Leduc and Miranda Diaz, will be joining her coaching staff starting in 2023.

Ever since she arrived, Murray has established herself as one of the top-notch coaches in the state, and was honored in 2007 by being named the Southern California Coach of the Year, while she has been named the conference Coach of the Year four times. Back in 2004, the team won their first conference championship in 14 years and were the #2-seeded team in Southern California.

Back in 2010 Murray, was named the conference’s Coach of the Year, was named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) California Community College Coach of the Year, along with being selected the Southern California and South Coast Conference Coach of the Year. Along with the NFCA award, her entire staff was honored by being named part of the West Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

During the 2008 season, Murray and her team won the school’s second state championship after advancing to the state championship game the year before. She followed those two seasons by finishing in the final four at the state championships in 2009. During that season, Murray led the Falcons to a 41-11-1 record and entered the state tournament winning their last 12 post-season games. In 2008, the team finished with a 43-5 record, with a 5-1 win over Mt. San Antonio College in the state championship game. The 43 wins that year set a new school record. As for the 2007 season, Murray and her all-freshman team came within one game of winning the state title and finished with a 39-11-1 mark.

Murray became the fourth coach of the Cerritos College softball program when she took over the program in 2002. She came to the Falcons after spending the 2001 season as an assistant coach at Santa Ana College, where they placed second in the State Championships. Murray brings coaching experience that spans every level – high school, community college, and professionally both in the United States and internationally.

Murray has nearly 40 years of experience coaching, with 30 of those at the community college level. She spent six years as the head coach at Los Angeles Valley College, rebuilding a team that had been on hiatus for a number of years. Murray coached at the high school level for six years, including a CIF Championship team at Woodbridge High School in Irvine in 1988. Professionally, Murray coached the Tampa Bay Firestix of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch team out of Tampa Bay, FL, and helped them to within three games of winning their division. Internationally, Murray coached the Regio Calabria Team in the Italian Softball Federation.

Murray played softball at Golden West College for two years and at Cal Poly Pomona from 1982-83, where she earned All-West Region honors in 1983 and ASA All-American honors in 1984. After college, Murray played second base for the Orange Majestics, which included winning the 1987 ASA Women’s Major Fastpitch National Championship and several berths to the Olympic Festival.

Murray earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Cal Poly Pomona in 1985 and a Master of Science degree in Physical Education from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1991. She earned a second Master’s degree in Special Education from National University in 1994.