The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.

The College of San Mateo softball team enjoyed a magical season in 2012. They posted a 34-6 regular-season record and the top seed in the Northern California regional playoffs — only to be shocked and knocked out in the second round.

2013 is turning out to be pretty good as well. With one game remaining in the regular season, today versus City College of San Francisco, the Lady Bulldogs are already a game ahead of that pace at a 36-4 record. The Bulldogs have been ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the season and their players litter the statistical leaders as they’ve won back-to-back Coast Conference North titles. A win Tuesday over San Francisco would also give them their first ever undefeated home season since Nicole Borg took over the coaching reins.

“I think, obviously, we have a strong foundation of sophomores who have been through it before,” Borg said. “This is a special group.”

The 2013 Bulldogs are a sophomore-laden team, with nine of the 13 players on the roster in their second season with the program. A win today would give this sophomore class a regular-season record of 72-10.

“We’re not celebrating those things,” Borg said. “Let’s get through May (and maybe win a state title) and then celebrate.”

Of those nine second-year players, six have already secured spots at four-year schools next year to continue their careers. The other three have decided they no longer want to play but, if they did, rest assured there would be spots for them somewhere.

“The thing they’ve learned in this program is put your head down and grind it out,” Borg said. “I think our transfer rate is phenomenal.”

As is usually the case with softball, pitching is the name of the game and the Bulldogs have one of the best in former Capuchino standout Michele Pilster, who leads the state in earned run average (1.06), wins (26) and is fifth in strikeouts (166).

Offensively, the Bulldogs lead the Coast Conference in overall batting average (.373), on-base percentage (.426) and slugging percentage (.550). They are led by catcher/outfielder Jamie Navarro, who is batting .455.

All those wins and all those stats will mean little if CSM does not make some significant noise in the playoffs. Borg said the goal is always to win the conference championship and then, hopefully, advance out of the regional tournament to the state tournament.

“That’s a great goal to have, a state title. I wouldn’t be happy to just get there,” Borg said. “None of my teams have ever made the state tournament.”

Borg believes last year’s experience should serve the Bulldogs well this season. Last season, after clinching the Coast Conference title, the Bulldogs dropped their season finale to rival Ohlone-Fremont. They have already grown in that regard. After clinching the conference championship this year, they went on to beat Ohlone.

“There is a bit of maturity that has happened (from last year to this year),” Borg said. “Because the expectations are so high for our coaching staff and our athletes, those (kind of) wins are great. They help us with our overall seeding.

“I always tell my girls, we can’t celebrate right now. This is just a small step in the right direction. We’re going to finish as strong as we can and build momentum going into the playoffs. That’s where we want to be. We want to be on that upward swing. We want to get hot and stay hot. We want to beat everyone who comes to play us.”