SCIAC Championship Home Page
Live Video (SCIACtv)
General admission to SCIAC Championships:
Adults: $10
Military personnel and senior citizens: $5
Free for children under 12 or SCIAC students, faculty and staff with school ID
Tournament Schedule - Double Elimination
(times subject to change based on length of earlier games)
Friday, May 3
Game 1: No. 1 CMS vs. No. 4 Whittier, 1 p.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer vs. No. 3 Chapman, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 4
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 5 (Championship Round)
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 12 p.m.
Game 7: Same 2 teams (if necessary), 30 minutes after game 6
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team (30-9, 24-4 SCIAC) won the regular season SCIAC title, earning the top seed and the right to host the conference tournament, which will be held this Friday-Sunday at Athena Field, beginning with CMS facing Whittier in the first opening round game on Friday at 1 p.m.
The second opening-round game of the double-elimination tournament will be held at approximately 3:30 p.m. (or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game) with No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer facing No. 3 Chapman. The two first-round losers will meet on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in an elimination game, followed by the winners at 1:30 p.m. The championship round will be on Sunday at 12 p.m., with a second game held 30 minutes afterward if necessary.
CMS started out 18-0 in conference games before suffering its first conference loss at Pomona-Pitzer (4-3, on a walk-off single). All four Athena losses in league play were by one run, in their opponents' final at-bat, with Redlands scoring twice in the top of the seventh to win 3-2 (the only home loss that CMS suffered in league play) and Whittier closing out the regular season with two 5-4 wins over the Athenas last weekend, both on walk-off hits (one in the seventh, one in the ninth).
However, the Athenas also showed plenty of ability to win close games themselves, winning 10 of their league games in their final at-bat as well (three in extra innings). In fact, nine of the 12 games CMS played in April were decided by one run, including each of the last six.
The Athenas were well-represented on the All-SCIAC teams which were released earlier this week, as senior Chloe Amarilla was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year and freshman Lauren Richards was named the Newcomer of the Year. Amarilla and Richards have been the 1-2 punch for CMS in the pitching circle all season, with Richards tallying a 16-1 mark in league play, just missing a perfect record on the final weekend of the season when she took the loss in a short relief appearance in the 5-4 loss to Whittier in the opener.
Amarilla and Richards were joined on the All-SCIAC first-team by Megan Perron, who heads into postseason play with a .472 average, leading the SCIAC. Perron saw very limited playing time last season during an injury-plagued freshman campaign, and wasn't in the team's opening-day starting lineup against Whitworth. That didn't last long, though, as she hit 2-for-4 in the nightcap, had a pinch hit in the third game against Vanguard to improve to 3-for-5, and hasn't come out of the lineup since. She and sophomore Maddie Valdez, an All-SCIAC second team selection, both come into the postseason tied for the team lead with 40 RBI, with Valdez holding a single-season school record with 40 RBI.
CMS will be trying to win its sixth SCIAC Tournament title and its second in a row, after earning the championship last year as the No. 4 seed, sweeping through top-seeded La Verne (twice) and third-seeded Pomona-Pitzer to earn an NCAA bid. It will be a different storyline this time, though, as the Athenas won last year's championship largely behind the arm of graduated senior pitcher Anna Gurr, who allowed one run in three games as CMS won 2-0, 2-1 and 2-0. A home run from Valdez in the bottom of the sixth provided the difference in the 2-1 win over Pomona-Pitzer, while current sophomore Kawai Scanlan had an RBI in the championship game win over La Verne.
Note: The SCIAC charges admission for postseason events ($10 general admission, $5 for seniors and military personnel, free for children under 12 and students, faculty and staff with a SCIAC ID). All tournament games will also be video streamed through SCIACtv and not through the normal CMS video portal.
