Baseball ended its 2023 campaign earlier than expected after losing their best-of-three playoff series against LA Valley.  After winning Game 1 of their three-game series with #17 LA Valley yesterday they needed just one more win to advance in the playoffs, but lost Game 2, 2-0, and fell, 9-6, in the finale, which was also the second extra-inning game of the series.  In today's first game, the Cougars could not catch a break on offense and struckout 11 times, including eight times looking.  The loss also marked the first time the Cougars have been shutout since March 7, 2019.  Cuesta bounced back and took a 2-0 lead in the series finale but fell behind when the Valley's Max Aude connected for a grand slam in the 3rd inning.  The Cougars tied the game after plating runs in the 6th and 7th innings to tie the game, while both teams scored in the 8th and went scoreless in the 9th, which forced the second extra-inning game of the series.  The Monarchs took back control of the game in the 10^th with another four-run inning, while the Cougars ran themselves out of the game with the tying run at the plate.  LA Valley shall advance to the next round at Palomar College, while the Cougars' successful season concludes with another conference title and a playoff berth on their resume.

Catcher Dalton Cram and Infielder Robert Mansour led the Cougars on offense today as they both enjoyed a pair of multi-hit games in the doubleheader.  Pitcher Robinson Lardner also made another appearance in the series and extended his playoff scoreless streak to 7.2 innings.  He kept the Monarchs scoreless for three innings and earned the victory on Friday and tossed 4.2 more shutout innings in today's finale, before handing a lead to the bullpen.  On the weekend, he was 1-0 with eight strikeouts over 7.2 scoreless innings against the Monarchs. 

All-Western State Conference Awards and All-CCCAA State Awards shall be announced at the conclusion of the post-season.