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For the first seven
innings of their South Coast Conference baseball
game, the Cerritos College baseball team was riding
the arm of sophomore pitcher
Sheldon
McGregor (La Mirada HS). The Falcons,
who were playing a “road” game against the Lancers
on Wednesday after their regularly scheduled game
was moved to Kincaid Field, held a 1-0 lead after
seven innings with their lone run coming in the
first inning.
But the Falcons put five
runs on the board in the top of the eighth inning
only to see the Lancers score twice in the eighth
inning and threaten to pull off the win, as they
scored three more in the bottom of the ninth. But
sophomore
Brad Schwarzenbach (St. John Bosco HS)
removed his catcher’s gear to record the final two
outs with a runner at second base, as Cerritos
recorded a 6-5 win.
With the victory, the
Falcons are now 19-9 overall and 10-2 in the SCC,
while the Lancers fell to 11-17 overall and 3-8 in
conference play. Cerritos, winners of 15 of their
last 18 games, remain ½ game behind Long Beach City
College for first place and will host the Vikings at
Kincaid Field at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. In their
first meeting, LBCC posted a 6-5 win in 14 innings.
In their five-run eighth
inning, Cerritos chased Lancer starter Ernie
Hernandez by collecting five hits. Sophomore first
baseman
Ryan
Montgomery (La Mirada HS) singled
with one out, followed by run-scoring doubles off
the bats of sophomore shortstop
Scott
Patynik (Whittier HS) and freshman
center fielder Nick Armstrong (Marina HS).
Freshman left fielder
Andrew
Baslow (Chatsworth HS) drove home
Armstrong, who stole third base, with a sacrifice
fly, before the Falcons started up their offense
again. Freshman third baseman
Jose
Serrano (Artesia HS) singled, stole
second base and came home on a base hit by sophomore
right fielder
Phil
Van Doren (La Mirada HS), who came
home to score on an error by Lancer shortstop Jeff
Hubler.
As for the Lancers, they
were limited to just three hits through the first
seven innings until Hubler led off the eighth with a
single. Matt Ayers followed with a base hit, and the
two came home on consecutive hits by Chris Flores
and Silvester Hernandez. In the ninth inning,
Gabriel Chavez led off with a walk, while
pinch-hitter Michael Hemphill was hit by a pitch. A
single by Hubler loaded the bases before the first
out was recorded. Gabriel Barrientos then had his
ground ball deflect off the foot of Luyben, which
scored two runs, while a fielder’s choice by Barron
scored the third run. Schwarzenbach then struck out
Flores looking to end the game.
For the Falcons, the trio
of Serrano, Van Doren and freshman catcher
Phil
Rodriguez (Norwalk HS) each had two
hits, while Flores, Hernandez and Hubler had two
hits for the Lancers. |
