Vaqueros seeded 9th for South Regional, will travel to No. 8 Grossmont

SBCC was seeded No. 9 for the Southern Regional softball playoffs and will travel to No. 8 Grossmont for a best-of-three series next weekend in El Cajon. Game 1 is Saturday at 3 p.m., Game 2 will be Sunday at noon and Game 3 will follow, if necessary.

     2016 CCCAA Southern Regional Bracket

The Vaqueros (28-11) were the highest seeded team from the WSC Gold Division, despite finishing third. Gold champion Moorpark was seeded 11th and runner-up Ventura was 15th. The Pirates will host No. 18 Rio Hondo in a play-in game on Tuesday.

This is the first playoff appearance since 2012 for the Vaqueros, who are 11th in the state with 288 runs (7.4 per game). Santa Barbara has scored 10 or more runs in 14 games this year.

Grossmont (26-12-1) was the runner-up in the Pacific Coast Conference to defending state champion Palomar. The Griffins are No. 17 in the state in batting at .335 and the Vaqueros are close behind at .327.

SBCC has the advantage in pitching with a 2.88 ERA, one run better than Grossmont's 3.87.

Madison McNamee is the Vaqueros' top pitcher with a 16-5 record and a 2.30 ERA. She's also batting .365 with 21 RBIs. Rebecca Pullen is 12-5 in the circle with a 3.61 ERA.

Freshman catcher Monica Salas leads the Vaquero offense. She's hitting .429 (No. 2 in the WSC Gold) with 35 RBIs. Center fielder Sydney Townes is batting .414 and Alyssa-Rae Jewell is hitting .410 with a team-high 53 runs and 15 stolen bases.

Third baseman Christal Vierra, the only sophomore on the team, is batting .336 with 38 RBIs.

Grossmont started the year 10-2-1 and is 4-3 in its last seven games.

Rachel Everett, a pitcher/outfielder, leads the Griffins with a .454 average, 3 homers and 35 RBIs. She's 12-5 as a pitcher with a 3.60 ERA. Ashley Madara is 10-5 with a 3.56 ERA.

Leadoff hitter Amanda Izzo, the third baseman, is hitting .402 with 26 stolen bases. Outfielders Katie Schmidt and Sierra Salazar are batting .376 and .364, respectively, with 28 RBIs apiece.