The No. 6 seed College of the Canyons softball team is heading to a California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Super Regional for this first time since 2013, with the Cougars slated to take on No. 3 Mt. SAC on Friday as part of the four-team, double elimination tournament being held May 13-15.

Canyons (31-12), champions of the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division, posted a 2-1 come-from-behind series victory over No. 11 Moorpark last weekend to move on to the next round of the postseason.

On Sunday, sophomore All-State pitcher Ashley Russo (25-9) picked up a pair of victories while limiting the Raiders to just one run and nine hits on the day. That dropped her ERA to 2.86 through 203 innings of work, to go along with 138 strikeouts.

At the dish, it was sophomore first baseman, and All-SoCal selection, Kiana Holder who helped power the Cougars into the next round with a fourth inning grand slam in Game 2 that put the game out of reach for the Raiders. Holder is currently batting .455 on the season with 51 RBIs to lead Canyons in both categories.

As a team, the Cougars are batting .351 with 26 home runs and 289 runs scored through 43 games.

COC will be joined at the Super Regional by event host No. 2 Santiago Canyon College (34-7), No. 3 Mt. SAC (37-5) and No. 9 Santa Barbara City College (30-12).

COC and Mt. SAC will square off at 4 p.m. on Friday, with Santiago Canyon and SBCC getting things started earlier in the day at 2 p.m.

The Mounties enter the weekend as champions of the South Coast Conference, with a roster that includes six All-SCC honorees, two All-SoCal selections and the state Co-Pitcher of the Year, Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings. In addition, Mt. SAC head coach Rubilena Rojas was named the conference Coach of the Year. Last weekend, the Mounties defeated No. 14 Chaffey College 2-0 to clinch the series and advance to the Super Regional. Mt. SAC has now won 15 of its last 16 games.

Santa Barbara finished the regular season third in the WSC, Gold Division before defeating No. 8 Grossmont College 2-1 in its opening round playoff series. The Vaquero lineup features eight all-conference selections. On Feb. 19, SBCC hosted COC for a doubleheader with the Cougars dropping the first contest 6-0 before bouncing back to take Game 2 by a 3-0 margin.

Tournament host Santiago Canyon, which placed second in the Orange Empire Conference, also has some recent history with the Cougars. On March 5, the Hawks swept a home doubleheader from COC, with Santiago winning 17-5 in Game 1 before pulling out a 4-3 victory in the second outing. Included in the Hawks’ lineup are two All-State team honorees and seven All-OEC selections.

The CCCAA will stage two Southern California Super Regionals, along with two Northern California events.

The winner of each tournament will then advance to play in the final four during the CCCAA State Championships being held May 20-22 at Bakersfield College.

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