COMMUNITY COLLEGE STATE SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS : Long Beach Uses Double Steal to Oust Cypress

Cypress College’s bid for the State softball championship ended Saturday night when the Chargers were defeated, 1-0, by Long Beach in the double-elimination tournament in Visalia.

Long Beach (40-6) scored the game’s only run with a double steal in the second inning. With runners at the corners, the runner on first broke for second and drew the throw. Brenda Rogers, who had reached base on an error, then scored from third.

After an 18-inning loss Friday night to College of the Sequoias, Cypress stayed alive for two games Saturday behind the pitching of freshman Jenny Lopez.

The Chargers shut out Fresno, 3-0, behind Lopez and Jackie Ruiz, who relieved in the seventh.

Cypress (45-17) scored one run in the fourth inning and two in the sixth, and all three runs came with two outs and as the result of errors.

Cypress then defeated San Joaquin Delta, 1-0, in 10 innings when Briana Yoshina drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk.