Cuesta Softball continues its second swing through the Western State Conference with a pair of contests this week.  The Cougars travel to nearby Santa Maria to face local rival Allan Hancock on Tuesday (1 PM), before hosting Ventura, who tops the WSC standings, on Thursday (2 PM).  The Cougars earned a run-rule victory over the rival Bulldogs, 16-3, when they visited SLO on March 12, but also lost their first meeting to the Pirates, 4-3, on St Patrick's Day.  In that game, the Cougars took the lead in their second turn at the plate and held their advantage until the Bucs came back in their final turn at the plate for a comeback victory, 4-3, while remaining undefeated in WSC play.  It has been a tough year for the usually potent WSC-North Division, with the first place Pirates, at an even .500 (16-16-1), as the only team in the loop without a losing record. The game against Ventura marks the Cougars' final home game of the 2026 campaign

 

The Cougars were eliminated from playoff contention after their loss to Oxnard, 6-5, on Thursday.  The setback also marked the second time this season that the Condors have employed late inning heroics to steal a victory from the Cougars.  In their first meeting, in SLO back on March 10, the Condors used a two-out double from Jizzelle Garcia in the 7th inning to steal the victory, 3-2.  On Thursday, it was Garcia again, who drove in the tying and winning runs to put the Condors on top in the 7th inning for the win, 6-5.  The Cougars are currently 11-22 overall and 3-5 in WSC play. 

 

Cuesta Sophomore Third Baseman Addy Finegan enters the final two weeks of the season still in contention for the 3C2A Triple Crown.  Finegan currently leads the State with a Cuesta Record 18 home runs, while her 55 runs batted in trail only Jaelynn Eaves (65) of Citrus.  However, her toughest leg of the Triple Crown appears to be Batting Average.  Finegan's batting average of .505 (Min 100 plate appearances) ranks 6th in the State, including two spots behind teammate Cierra Cloud (.513).  Only three Cuesta players, on record, have finished a season with a batting average above .500- Kryn Masutani (.542, 2013), Sydney Doherty (.516, 2018) and Bre Ojala (.513, 2014).  Masutani, who already lost her single-season home run mark to Finegan, also holds the Cougars' RBI record with 66 driven in during the 2013 season.