College softball: SRJC upsets Sierra in playoffs, advances to 2nd round for 1st time since 2014

The 13th-seeded Santa Rosa Junior College softball team completed a stunning upset on Saturday in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association NorCal playoffs, defeating No. 4 seed Sierra 15-10 in a winner-take-all finale of their best-of-three series.

The Bear Cubs won the first game 9-8 on Friday, then lost the second 11-10 earlier Saturday, setting up the deciding Game 3 in the afternoon.

Tied 5-5 after three innings, SRJC (23-17) broke the game open with 10 runs in the fourth inning. Sierra (27-13-1) got a few runs back down the stretch, but the 10-run deficit was too much to overcome.

The Bear Cubs, ranked No. 19 in the CCCAA at the end of the regular season, took two of three games from Sierra, ranked No. 8 in the CCCAA, during Big 8 conference play this spring.

Kaihla Jarvinen went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run in Saturday's series-clinching win, while Mia Avila had two hits and two RBIs.

In the 11-10 loss earlier in the day, Kylee Bauman hit a grand slam and Kaylee Caselli went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. That game was tied 10-10 before Sierra plated a run in the top of the seventh and ended the game with the tying and go-ahead runs for SRJC on base in the bottom half of the inning.

Ninu Elisara also went 6-for-8 across both games.

SRJC now advances to the second round of the CCCAA NorCal playoffs for the first time since the 2014 season and will play at No. 5 seed Hartnell (32-9), the No. 11 team in the state, in a best-of-three series in Salinas this coming weekend.

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This story was originally published May 3, 2026 at 6:18 AM.