Complete Southern California Bracket

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Coming off a Western State Conference Co-Championship season in 2009, the Cougars made sure to be greedy this time around, taking sole possession of first place, and claiming the title of “Champions” all for themselves. Now, the back-to-back champs are heading to the playoffs for the second time in head coach John Wissmath’s three years at COC, as they travel to No. 9 Grossmont as the No. 8 seed in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association Southern California Regional.

The Griffins, who are led by head coach Rick Trestail, also snagged a championship title, finishing their season in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference with a record of 13-2 and a 27-12 overall record. The team outscored their opponents by 194 runs and produced 9 shutouts throughout the season.

The Griffins may finally meet their match with the Cougars, who finished the season with a 29-11 record and 16-2 record in the Western State Conference, Blue Division. Much like their opposition, the Cougars were completely dominant during the 2010 season, outscoring all other teams by a total of 213 runs, while mustering 12 shutouts.

The Griffins are led by Conference Pitcher of the Year and First Team All State winner Melanie Goff. Goff started 29 games this season and recorded a 1.43 ERA after 175.56 innings of work. As with Grossmont, COC is led by the strong pitching of sophomore Ashley Imperial. The two-time Conference Pitcher of Year and 2010 first-team all-state member started notched a 2.29 ERA in 143.1 innings in the circle. She gave up 124 hits and 63 runs in 2010.

With aces like Goff and Imperial, the Cougar-Griffin face-off may turn out to be a pitcher’s duel, leaving the rest up to the offenses to make something happen.

COC will play its first game against Grossmont at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 1. The second game will be played on Sunday, May 2 at noon, followed by a 2 p.m. game if necessary. The winner of the best-of-three series will move into the second round and be reseeded depending on which teams are still playing.