On Sunday May 8, the Sonoma State Seawolves won their second straight CCAA (California Collegiate Athletic Association) championship title hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay. The Seawolves defeated Monterey in the championship to secure their second straight CCAA title and the fourth seed in the West Regional Tournament..
The opener was an absolute slugfest, with the final score being 16-8 against the Cal State East Bay Pioneers breaking the CCAA tournament runs record. After the second inning, the Seawolves had a seven run lead. Hays had this to say about a lead impacting the game, “When we’re ahead by so many runs the main thing we’re all feeling is we’re just having fun at that point. We’re able to breathe a little more and just have fun at the plate. We’re also able to not have as much pressure on us when we’re in the field. It feels really good to have so much cushion for our pitchers and put them in the best position for success.”
The Seawolves went on to the second game to take down their rival, the Chico State Wildcats in extra innings. With the end score being 6-5, the game was very close until the end. The score was just 2-1 until the sixth inning when first baseman for the Wildcats, Reilani Peleti homered to deep center field to tie the game. During the seventh inning, both teams managed to score three runs in their half of the inning. After this, it went into extra innings where junior Courtney Jack had what would prove to be the game winning RBI.
After their huge win against Chico State, the Seawolves went on to play the number one seed, Cal State San Marcos in the semi-finals. After a big seven-run first inning, the Seawolves never looked back as they won the game 12-8.
Following the win against San Marcos, this propelled the Seawolves to the championship game against Cal State Monterey Bay. The Seawolves quickly found themselves in a three-run deficit in the first two innings. They finally answered back in the fourth inning thanks to a two-run home run from senior Jordyn Martinez, her third of the weekend helping her earn MVP of the tournament. SSU was able to tack on an 8-run sixth inning to secure the lead for good.
After winning the championship on Sunday, Martinez had this to say, “It was so exciting to win it all. This team is so special and we are so competitive, and have so much fight. Hitting a home run in that game was honestly one of my favorite home runs I’ve hit this year. It was just one way that the momentum went on our side & it was just so much fun to celebrate that with my team.”
After coming into the CCAA tournament as the three seed, the Seawolves overcame the odds and took home the victory. They will now compete in the Division two West Regional tournament starting this week on Thursday May 12. Fans can stream the games through the NCAA network.