Succeeding where they failed last year, the Hornets (40-5) topped the Cerritos Falcons in round two of the Southern California Regional of the California Community College Athletic Association softball championship Saturday afternoon. The win sets up Fullerton for their first state tournament appearance since 2019.
Down 1-0 in a three-game series following their loss to Cerritos (31-14) the previous day, the Hornets needed to win both games on Saturday to keep their postseason alive. The day opened with a tedious game, in which two errors by Cerritos allowed Fullerton to break an early tie and take the game 4-2.
Building on that momentum, the Hornets easily beat the Falcons 7-1 in the finale, which brought Cerritos’ season to a dismal end. Fullerton pitcher and former OEC MVP Allyson Fuentes got the win in both games, and held Cerritos to three hits across seven innings.
Fullerton’s Milene Mendoza led the team in hitting and scoring, as she managed to smash two doubles and four RBIs in three at-bats in Game 3. The performance brought her to five total RBIs on the day.
Fullerton is slated to face Sierra College (20-24) in round one of the state championship, on Thursday, May 16 at 2 p.m. The state tournament runs from Thursday, May 16, through Sunday, May 19, and will take place in the Bay Area. All games are hosted by West Valley College in Saratoga as well as some Friday games will be at San Jose City College.
