Story from www.cccaasports.org
by Andrew Wheeler, CCCFCA Sports Information
Bakersfield, CA -- After suffering its first loss of the season just hours before, the College of San Mateo Bulldogs (42-1) rallied on Saturday evening with a 4-2 win over Cypress College (38-10) in an elimination game of the 2015 California Community College Athletic Association State Softball Championships. The win propelled the Bulldogs to their first ever appearance in the CCCAA Softball State Championship Finals, as San Mateo came from behind in the top of the fifth, pounding out nine hits and overcoming three errors for the victory.
As had been the case most of the weekend, pitching was the story through the first few innings. Both teams were held hitless through the first. In the top of the second, Leilani Akai and Christy Peterson came up with singles for San Mateo, but both were stranded.
While San Mateo was hitting, but not scoring, Cypress was doing the opposite. The Chargers were held hitless through four innings, but took advantage of even more patience at the plate. After drawing seven walks in their previous game against Cosumnes River, Cypress drew seven more through the first four and took a 1-0 lead thanks to a bases loaded RBI walk from Jezz Portillo in the bottom of the third.
The Bulldogs would be held hitless in the third, before collecting another hit to no avail in the fourth. Things took a quick turn in top of the fifth though, when San Mateo exploded for four runs. Brittany Wilkerson got the got the party started when she tied the game up with an RBI single back up the middle of the field that scored Kaitlin Chang.
A few at bats later and with two outs and Kayleen Smith and Wilkerson sitting on second and third base respectively, Harlee Donovan strolled to the plate and drilled a single to centerfield putting the Bulldogs up 3-1. Two pitches after that Lauren Berriatua ripped a double to center field, scoring Donovan and giving San Mateo a 4-1 advantage.
Cypress would claw their way back into the game in the bottom half of the inning, and do so thanks to a pair of Bulldogs errors. Taylor Pierce would drive in the run, hitting a hard line drive back to the pitcher who barely got her glove up in time just to knock it down. The hard hit ball scored Khailey Campos and made it 4-2.
San Mateo looked to make more noise in the top of the fifth, when their first two batters of the inning got on via a hit by pitch and walk. The Bulldogs would give up an out via sacrifice to move the runners to second and third, but the next batter up hit a line drive right at Cypress third baseman Tobi Salzman who caught the ball and applied a diving tag to the runner at third to avoid any further damage.
The Chargers would go quietly in the bottom of the sixth, while San Mateo got a double from Donovan in the top of the seventh and nothing else. In the bottom of the seventh, Cypress looked like they'd get extended life when Alejandra Guillen's fly ball to left was dropped, but Guillen was thrown out at second trying to extend the play, ending the threat.
Berriatua (28-1) got the win for the Bulldogs, pitching 3.2 innings of strong relief, giving up just one hit, one run, striking out three Chargers and most importantly, walking none. Donovan finished 2 for 4 with a run and two RBIs, while Akai was 2 for 3.
San Mateo will take on Palomar College in the final tomorrow at 12:00 PM. The Bulldogs will have to win two straight to claim their first ever softball state championship, while the Comets need just one victory over two chances to claim their fourth.