Cypress Beats Hancock, 3-2, to Advance

Right fielder Briana Yoshina’s two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in Jenny Lopez, leading Cypress to a 3-2 victory over Hancock in the Southern California Regional softball finals Saturday at Cypress.

The victory sends the Chargers to the State tournament for the seventh consecutive season. Heidi Schmidt (16-2) gave up one hit in 1 2/3 innings of relief to earn the victory for the host Chargers (47-8). Lopez had two hits and a stolen base for Cypress.

Freshman Kelly Sack tripled in the tying run in the top of the fifth for Hancock (35-17).

In an earlier elimination game, Saddleback lost to Hancock, 5-3.

Sophomore pitcher Stacy Lumley (13-7) gave up five runs and six hits over seven innings for the Gauchos (23-16) in the loss.

Saddleback tied the score, 3-3, with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Hancock responded with two runs in the fifth.