Mt. SAC Back To No. 1 In State Softball Coaches Poll, El Camino at No. 11
After landing at No. 4 in the second state rankings, the Mt. San Antonio College softball team returned to the No. 1 position in the March 6 CCCFCA State Top 15. The Mounties (14-2 overall) were in first place in the South Coast Conference North Division with a perfect 8-0 record going into March 14 contests.
El Camino was the only other SCC school in the elite 15 at the No. 11 slot. The Warriors (11-4) lead the SCC South Division at 9-1. In the SoCal Region Top 10, Mt. SAC was #1, El Camino #6, and Pasadena City (13-6) was tied for #8 after a 5-game, all mercy called-win streak. The Lancers are 8-3, firmly planted in second place in the SCC North.
Meanwhile in the South, Long Beach City's hot start has cooled off as the Vikings (13-7) went from winning their first nine games this season to a 4-7 stretch since that streak. LBCC is 6-4 in SCC play to hold second place in the division.
The only other above-.500 team in the conference is Chaffey, third in the SCC North with a 10-7 overall mark, 5-4 in the division.
Mt. SAC had a 13-game win streak snapped in a loss to state #13 Santa Ana. The Mounties .359 batting average is tops in the SCC and #11 in the state. Long Beach was ninth in runs scored (141). Three conference teams occupy Nos. 3-5 in the state stolen base race in El Camino (68), Pasadena (60), and Compton (53). LBCC was in a 5-way tie for first in the state in team triples with 11.
Mt. San Antonio has the state's top pitching ERA at 0.74 while PCC is ninth at 2.03. Individually, the state's top two pitching ERAs are SCC hurlers in El Camino's Jocelyn Hernandez (0.31 in 22 innings) and Mt. SAC's Alexia Silvas (0.40 in 35 innings). The Mounties' Briana Wheeler is the conference's most talented pitcher at 9-0 with an 0.98 ERA and 75 strikeouts in just 57 innings. Wheeler threw a 7-inning no-hitter v. Cerritos (Feb. 7). Pasadena's Britney Lopez twirled a 5-inning no-hitter v. LA Harbor on March 7. Both sophomore pitchers tossed complete-game, 7-inning no-hitters as freshmen as well.
At the plate, El Camino third baseman Diamond Lewis has the conference's current top batting average at .500 and leads the SCC in stolen bases with 19. Cerritos third baseman Kayla Hernandez leads the conference in RBI with 24. Another third baseman--PCC's Samantha Diaz has led the Lancers in their hot streak, batting .392 overall with 15 stolen bases.