PREVIEW: 2025 3C2A Softball State Championship Tournament

LOS ANGELES, Calif – The California Community College Athletics Association released the 2025 Softball State Championships Bracket on Monday, March 12. Here’s everything you need to know about this weekend’s tournament. 

WHERE AND WHEN

The tournament opens Thursday, May 15, with four first-round games between the top four seeds from both the north and south. The double-elimination style bracket will crown a winner on Sunday, May 18. 

Twelve of the 14 guaranteed games – game 15 is a winner-take-all game should the team coming out of the loser’s bracket win game 14 – will be held at West Valley. Games five and six are at San Jose City College. 

Tickets can be purchased at this link. For all tournament information – including live stream links, recaps, photos, box scores and bracket updates – click here.

THE FIELD AND THE MATCHUPS

NORTH

No. 1 West Valley (41-3)

No. 2 San Mateo (39-3)

No. 3 Yuba (37-7-1)

No. 4 Modesto (28-13-1)

SOUTH

No. 1 Orange Coast (32-7)

No. 2 Cypress (35-9)

No. 3 Palomar (40-3)

No. 4 El Camino (37-7)

BRACKET LAYOUT

Game 1 - S3 Palomar v N2 San Mateo, 5/15, 11 a.m. 

Game 2 - S1 Orange Coast v N4 Modesto, 5/15, 2 p.m.

Game 3 - S4 El Camino v N1 West Valley, 5/15, 5 p.m.

Game 4 - S2 Cypress v N3 Yuba, 5/15, 8 p.m.

Game 5 - Loser Game 1 v Loser Game 2, 5/16, 11 a.m. (@ San Jose City College)

Game 6 - Loser Game 3 v Loser Game 4, 5/16, 2 p.m. (@ San Jose City College)

Game 7 - Winner Game 1 v Winner Game 2, 5/16, 11 a.m.

Game 8 - Winner Game 3 v Winner Game 4, 5/16, 2 p.m.

Game 9 - Winner Game 5 v Loser Game 7, 5/16, 5 p.m.

Game 10 - Winner Game 6 v Loser Game 8, 5/16, 8 p.m.

Game 11 - Winner Game 7 v Winner Game 8, 5/17, 12 p.m.

Game 12 - Winner Game 9 v Winner Game 10, 5/17, 3 p.m.

Game 13 - Winner Game 12 v Loser Game 11, 5/17, 6 p.m.

Game 14 - Winner Game 11 v Winner Game 13, 5/18, 12 p.m.

Game 15 (if necessary) - same as above, 5/18, 3 p.m.

DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE?

Each member of the eight-team field had to win two best-of-three series to reach the State Championships hosted in San Jose suburb, Saratoga. Here’s each team’s journey to the tourney.

WEST VALLEY

The Vikings, ranked No. 1 in the state for the longest of any team in the 3CFCA Coaches’ Poll, hold the top seed in the north after amounting a California-best 41 wins through 44 contests.

Led by All-State Team selections Tyla Arbuckle and Dre Dejesus, West Valley pummeled Fresno City in the 3C2A Super Regionals with back-to-back run-rule wins over the Rams. In the series, the Vikings outscored FCC 24-3.  

ORANGE COAST

The top team coming from the south, Orange Coast boasts a 32-7 record coming out of the tough Orange Empire Conference. It’s the Pirates’ first trip to the State Championships since 1993.

The Pirates swept their way through the Regional and Super Regional, beating Mt. San Jacinto 9-1 and 2-1 to open the tournament. They bested conference-foe and the defending champs, Fullerton in the super with a narrow 3-2 win to open the series and 9-6 victory to punch their ticket. 

Orange Coast sports one All-State selection in Jasmyn Morales and two All-Southern honorees – Kelsey McNair and Daniella Sanchez.

SAN MATEO

Led by All-State selection Nohemi Livingston in the circle, the north’s No. 2 seeded Bulldogs enter the tournament with the state’s best team ERA, 1.05. San Mateo tossed an impressive 27 shutouts en route to a 39-3 record.

The Bulldogs outscored opponents 17-2 across the first two rounds of the tournament. In the Regional, they blanked Feather River across 14 innings of softball. Livingston opened the Super Regional with a 3-0 shutout win – seven strikeouts and only four hits allowed – over Hartnell. The Bulldogs took care of business in game two, punching their ticket back to the state tournament.

CYPRESS

The No. 2 team in the south also comes from the OEC. The conference’s co-champion Cypress is no slouch, returning to the tournament after climbing out of the loser’s bracket to force a winner-take-all game with Fullerton a year ago.

The 35-9 Chargers played a tight battle with Saddleback in the Super Regional. After sweeping Ventura a week prior, the Chargers held the Bobcats to just one run over the two-game set, winning game one 2-0 and game two 2-1.

The state’s winningest pitcher, Haley Tucker, holds 32 wins on the season and an All-State Team selection. Nanea Kyle is the team’s best bat and a threat to run on the bases – she’s third in the state with 45 steals. Kyle was an All-Southern Team honoree.

YUBA

Yuba is the No. 3 seed in the north after coming back down 1-0 in its series with American River a week ago to win the final two games and earn a spot at the Championships.

Led by Pitcher of the Year Danni Farris, the Niners rattled off an impressive 18-0 record in Golden Valley Conference play and a 23-game winning streak through the middle and final parts of the season. 

Yuba is a star-studded squad with three All-State selections – Farris, Jerzie Brown and Aaliyah Tinoco all receiving nods to the team. Head Coach Brian Seva earned the North’s Coach of the Year honors after improving by 15 wins from a season ago.

PALOMAR

The Comets return to the state tournament behind the efforts of the South’s Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, Breanna Lutz and Lacey Craft. Their 40-3 record is the second best among California teams.

The top team out of the Pacific Coast Conference and third-ranked team in the south, steamrolled its way through the first two rounds, outscoring opponents 32-3 across four games. Most impressively, the Comets shutout Cerritos in a two-game sweep of the Super Regional, winning the first game 9-0 and second 8-0.

MODESTO

Modesto earns its way to the state tournament after knocking off San Joaquin Delta in the Regional and Monterey Peninsula in the Super Regional. The Pirates lost their opening game of the tournament, but won four straight to notch the Championship appearance.

The No. 4 team in the north, the Pirates are led by two All-State selections in Katelyn Bridgeman and Brooklyn Heffernan. Kesaia Faasisila is an All-Northern honoree. The trio helped Modesto to a 28-win season – the program’s most in the past nine seasons and the only winning season outside of a shortened 2021 campaign. 

EL CAMINO

The Warriors earned their way to Saratoga after sweeping South Coast Conference rival Long Beach in the Super Regional. The South’s Pitcher of the Year, Lexi Ramirez, showed why she deserved the award, besting All-State selection Haley Harris in 3-2 and 4-3 victories. Before that, Ramirez tossed two shutouts and allowed only seven hits in 3-0 and 5-0 victories over San Diego Mesa in the Regional.

The No. 4 team from the south comes into the tournament with a 37-7 record, and has faced each Southern team in the field. Savanna Kastigar, one of the state’s biggest threats at the top of the lineup, earned an All-State selection. Cheyenne Navarro was named to the All-Southern team.