Despite their lackluster play of late, Fullerton baseball managed to make the 2015 CCCAA Regional Playoffs, thanks primarily to the Hornets blazing hot start to the season, winning 12 of their first 15 games.

The Hornets will travel just a few miles west on Friday to take on the Chargers in the first round this weekend.

The two squads are well acquainted at this point, playing their final two games of the season against each other.

Cypress comes in with the advantage in the seeding at #5, with Fullerton seeded #12. Although Cypress might have the advantage in seeding and home field, the teams looked pretty even down the stretch, splitting the final two games with one win a piece.

The Hornets began this season like they were shot out of a cannon, dismantling any team who stood in their way. However, as hot as their start was, the last month of the season was inversely ice-cold for the squad. FC finished the season on a dreadful run, dropping 12 of their final 16 games.

Part of what makes playoffs so intriguing, is that every team is given a clean slate. The Hornets will look to take advantage of their fresh start and they have reason to be optimistic.

First and foremost, the Hornets actually won the season series against Cypress, winning two out of three. This should bode well in the minds of the players.

The Hornets will also be sending their top pitcher, Dylan Prohoroff to take the mound for game one. Prohoroff’s last start was on Tuesday in which he pitched a complete game against Cypress, thoroughly frustrating the Chargers all game long.

The Chargers pose a lot of problems for any team though, boasting a robust offense that ranks first in the OEC in; batting average, runs scored, RBI and second in home runs. The Chargers offense is so far and away above the rest of the conference, that the next closest team has 42 fewer RBI and 39 fewer runs.

The Hornets will need to rely heavily on their one-two punch of starting pitchers, Prohoroff and Gordon Cardenas to shut down the vaunted offensive attack of the Chargers.

The deciding factor for both teams could very well come down to who plays better in the field. Both teams rank pretty poorly defensively, with the Hornets committing 56 errors and the Chargers committing 65 errors this season.

Fullerton finished the regular season with an overall record of (21-15), while Cypress finished at (25-11).

All three games will be played at Cypress this weekend. Game one will be on Friday at 2 p.m., game two will be on Saturday at 11 a.m. and game three (if necessary) will be on Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner of the best-of-three series will move on to the second round of the CCCA Regionals.