Cypress Wins Second Title With Some Help From Foe

Cypress won its second consecutive state community college softball title Sunday thanks in large part to Long Beach.

The Chargers converted six Viking errors into a 10-0 victory in the title game Sunday at Buchanan High in Clovis.

“Heck, yeah, we’re excited,” Cypress Coach Brad Pickler said. “We’re fired up. It’s tough to do.”

Cypress sophomore shortstop Michele Bailon, who scored twice and had one hit in the title game, was the tournament most valuable player.

“Bailon had a great tournament,” Pickler said, “She could have swept all the awards but they split it up.”

Mandy Rockwell, who won three games, was the most valuable pitcher and Cypress third baseman Ro Lutz won the Gold Glove award.

Lutz also had the key hit, a two-run triple, as Cypress (53-6) scored seven times in the third inning to lead, 9-0.

Sandra Mulder had three hits and scored three times for Cypress.

Mulder started the game with a single and later scored on an error when she was hit in the head by a poor throw to the plate.

Cypress sophomore Reanna Mendoza pitched a three-hitter with one strikeout for the victory. For the tournament, she gave up four hits and one walk in 14 1/3 innings.

Cypress went 4-0 in the tournament and outscored opponents, 20-2.

Long Beach (38-11) had beaten Cypress, 8-0, in a nonconference game two weeks ago and Pickler said that helped inspire his team.

“We talked about it,” he said. “They had bunted on us late and run on us late in that game and it was in the back of our minds. But Long Beach is a good team. They just ran out of gas.”

The Chargers had the advantage of resting in the morning while Long Beach eliminated Sacramento, 4-1.

But Long Beach Coach Shellie McCall didn’t believe her team was tired.

“I don’t think it was about being out of gas,” she said. “I think it was about them grabbing the momentum and going with it early on.”