Knight and Ramirez Power Warriors to Next Round

TORRANCE, Calif. --- No. 5 El Camino College secured a two-game sweep over No. 12 San Diego Mesa with a 5-0 victory in game two of the 3C2A SoCal Regional Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at the ECC Softball Field.

With the win, the Warriors advance to the 3C2A SoCal Regionals Second Round on Friday, May 9. They will face No. 4 seed Long Beach, who secured a sweep over No. 13 Bakersfield on Saturday.

Morgan Knight provided the big hit for the Warriors' offense on Saturday as she belted a triple with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to give the Warriors a 4-0 lead. She finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored.

Lexi Ramirez was stellar again in the circle for ECC as she took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. She recorded her second straight shutout and 26th win of the season in the circle while allowing just two hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Olivia Anderson took the loss for the Olympians after allowing five runs on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts. The Olympians finish the year with a 24-17 overall record.

Offense was hard to come by for both teams in the first three innings of the game as the teams combined for one hit and three walks in that span.

The Warriors finally snapped the lull in the fourth as Emma Garcia led off with a single to center and then advanced to second after Savanna Kastigar drew a walk. Jackie Ordonez then laid down a bunt to third and no one covered the first base bag for the Olympians, allowing Ordonez to reach and load the bases with no outs.

Ramirez would work a walk to force in the first run of the game and then Knight broke the inning open as she tanked a triple to the right field wall, clearing the bases and putting ECC up 4-0. Cami Garcia would hit a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring in the inning and put ECC up 5-0.

It's all Ramirez needed and she got plenty of help from her defense as the Warriors turned three double plays in the game. Ramirez carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before shortstop Braelyn Hill hit a jam-shot single that flared over Ramirez in the circle and died on the infield dirt. Cheyenne Navarro tried a bare-handed play but came up short as Hill reached on the infield hit and broke up Ramirez's bid to throw the first postseason no-hitter in ECC history.

The Olympians would get another single in the seventh from Maura Evans to lead things off but Ramirez induced the third double play of the game to erase the base runner. Ramirez then struck out Elijah Medina to end the game and advance to the Warriors to the next round.

The second round of the 3C2A SoCal Regional Playoffs will begin on Friday, May 9. Time is to be determined.