Cypress Back in Familiar Position

Cypress, the top-ranked softball team in Southern California, opens the state tournament against Shasta at 2 p.m. Friday in Clovis.

This is the 10th consecutive time that Cypress has reached the state tournament under Coach Brad Pickler. The Chargers won the tournament last year and in 1991.

Fullerton, which beat Cypress twice this season, plays Sacramento at noon. Long Beach plays Solano at noon and Palomar meets San Joaquin Delta at 2 p.m.

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Moving on: Orange Coast catcher John Lukin has signed to play at Rice. Lukin hit .338 with two home runs and 24 runs batted in this season.

Orange Coast midfielder Andrea Taylor will play soccer at Hawaii Pacific next season. She scored a team-high 12 goals as a Pirate sophomore.

Santa Ana outfielder Kim Bentley, a sophomore, has signed a letter of intent to play softball at San Jose State. She hit .281 with seven doubles.

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More games times: The times have set for the Southern California baseball regional, which starts Friday at Saddleback. Citrus (31-9) and Cerritos (30-10) play at 11 a.m. and Cypress (24-21) and Saddleback (34-9) play at 3 p.m.

This is the fifth meeting for Cypress and Saddleback. The teams split four Orange Empire Conference games.