Freshman outfielder Anthony Topete (Norwalk HS) singled home freshmen first baseman Trever Blood (La Mirada HS) with the game-winning run in the top of the 10th inning to lead the Cerritos College baseball team to a 3-2 South Coast Conference win over Mt. San Antonio College on Thursday afternoon. The win improves the Falcons to 28-7 overall and they hold a two-game lead in the SCC with a 14-2 mark, while the Mounties dropped to 16-19 overall and 6-10. Cerritos will now host Compton College (2-32, 1-13) at Kincaid Field at noon on Saturday.
With two outs in the top of the 10th inning, Blood tripled to give the Falcons a shot at breaking the tie. Sophomore catcher Phil Rodriguez (Norwalk HS), who doubled and tripled earlier in the game, was intentionally walked. Topete then laced a 2-0 pitch from Xavier Munoz for a base hit, which drove in Blood. Freshman closer Miguel Flores (St. John Bosco HS) shut down the Mounties in the bottom of the inning to secure the win for the Falcons.
In the bottom of the ninth, Cerritos escaped a bases loaded situation, but not before Topete made a catch in right field as he was falling down for the second out of the inning with a runner on second base. After Ryan Dowell advanced to third base on the catch, Flores intentionally walked Scott Lyons and Richard Escalera to load the bases. He then got Jake Seifman to ground out to end the inning.
After the Falcons opened the game by scoring in the top of the first inning, as sophomore outfielder Nick Armstrong (Marina HS) and sophomore second baseman Jose Serrano (Artesia HS) were both hit by pitches, they were advanced on a sacrifice. Blood then drove home Armstrong with a ground out. Mt. SAC took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning before Cerritos tied the game in the fourth. Blood, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, led off with a double and came home on a triple by Rodriguez, who was 2-for-4.
Freshman pitcher John Ortega (Downey HS) pitched the first 7 2/3 innings and allowed seven hits and two runs, while he struck out four. Flores pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the win and it improved his record to 5-2.
SOUTH
COAST
CONFERENCE
STANDINGS
(AS OF APRIL
13)
|
TEAM |
SCC
RECORD |
OVERALL
RECORD |
|
CERRITOS |
14-2 |
28-7 |
|
El
Camino |
10-4 |
23-11 |
|
Los
Angeles
Harbor |
10-4 |
18-15 |
|
East
Los
Angeles |
11-5 |
25-10 |
|
Long
Beach
City |
10-6 |
20-16 |
|
Mt.
San
Antonio |
6-10 |
16-19 |
|
Pasadena
City |
5-11 |
10-25 |
|
Los
Angeles
City |
1-13 |
2-28 |
|
Compton |
1-13 |
2-32 |
|
