Title Time: Bulldogs Sweep Ventura to Secure Outright WSC Championship

The Allan Hancock College softball team took care of business and earned sole possession of the Western State Conference title by sweeping a doubleheader against Ventura to close the regular season on Tuesday afternoon. The Bulldogs won 10-2 and 12-2, both games ended after five-innings due to the eight-run rule.

Hancock captured its first WSC title since 1998 and first postseason berth since 1999. The Bulldogs finished the regular season 15-3 in conference and 26-13 for the season. Ventura dropped to 11-7 in WSC action and finished fourth in the standings. Santa Barbara and Cuesta tied for second place with 13-5 marks in conference.

The Bulldogs scored four in the first inning of the opener, added two more in the third, three in the fourth and one in the fifth to end the contest. Hancock out-hit the Pirates 14-3. Katie Chenault struck out 12 in five innings. She allowed a two-run home run in the second for one of the three hits she surrendered in the victory.

Eight Bulldogs had at least one hit in the first game with six collecting two hits apiece. Missy Regalado went 2 for 3 with one RBI and two runs scored. Paige Cosand went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI, including a two-run single in the fourth inning. Gianna Abatti added two RBI to go with two hits.

Cosand, a St. Joseph High School graduate and sophomore catcher for the Bulldogs, crushed a grand slam as part of an eight-run third inning in the second game. She finished with 7 RBI on the day. Chenault added a two-run home run, her team-leading seventh of the season, in the fourth inning. Regalado scored three runs and added two hits. Kristine Ramos went 2 for 3 with two runs, while Chenault finished with 3 RBI. Jessica Rothanzl, a Righetti High School graduate, drove in two runs. The freshman first baseman finished the game with 53 RBI on the season, two shy of tying the program record.

Chenault struck out six Pirates in four shutout innings in the second game. Serena Fernandez allowed three hits and two runs in the fifth inning to preserve the victory.

Chenault fanned 18 batters in nine total innings on the day. She brought her state-leading and program-record strikeout total to 355.

The Bulldogs will learn their first round opponent in the Regional Playoffs later this week.

Caption: Players celebrate their conference championship by giving head coach Scia Maumausolo a surprise ice shower moments after the end of the doubleheader.