No. 6 Canyons to Host No.11 Moorpark in First Round Playoff Series
The best-of-three series begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Ray Whitten Field. Game two will be held at 12 p.m. Sunday. If necessary, a third and final game will be played as part of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader.
The No. 6 seed College of the Canyons softball team will host No. 11 Moorpark College in the first round of the 2016 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Regional playoffs.
The best-of-three series begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Ray Whitten Field in Santa Clarita.
Game two will be held at 12 p.m. Sunday. If necessary, a third and final game will be played as part of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader.
This weekend's match up will feature the two Western State Conference (WSC) champions, as well as the two WSC Coach of the Year honorees and the Pitcher of the Year for both divisions.
Canyons (29-11, 19-2) enters the playoffs as the WSC Blue Division champions, having finished the regular season five games ahead of second place Bakersfield College.
The conference title is the program's 13th overall and sixth under nine-year head coach John Wissmath who led the Cougars back to the postseason for a fifth straight season en route to earning Coach of the Year honors.
COC previously won back-to-back-to-back WSC titles in 2012, 2013, 2014.
The Cougars had 10 players earn all-conference selections, highlighted by sophomore pitcher Ashley Russo who was named WSC, Blue Division Pitcher of the Year. Her 23 regular season wins led the conference, while her 130 strikeouts ranked fourth. The right-hander also posted a 2.97 ERA through 186 innings of work, which was good for fifth in the WSC.
Earning All-WSC First Team honors for COC were sophomore first baseman Kiana Holder, freshman second baseman Sarah Wilson, sophomore third baseman Cheyenne Steward and sophomore outfielder Ariana Rea.
Meanwhile, Moorpark (28-8, 14-4) comes in as the champion of the WSC, Gold Division after edging out second place Ventura College by a one-game margin to help head coach David Fox also earn Coach of the Year.
The title is the 15th in Raider program history, which is a WSC record.
Moorpark freshman Caitlin Vinyard also earned WSC Pitcher of the Year honors after leading the conference with a 1.78 ERA, and ranking second in wins (20) and strikeouts (146).
The winner of the series will move on to the second round of the 2016 CCCAA SoCal Regional Playoffs.
A full Southern California region postseason bracket is available here.