Sophomore outfielder Nick Armstrong (Marina HS) ripped a bases loaded triple and sophomore pitcher Robbie Dominguez (El Rancho HS) pitched eight innings of five-hit ball to lead the Cerritos College baseball team to an 8-1 South Coast Conference win at Compton College on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Falcons, ranked #2 in Southern California, are 30-7 on the year and 16-2 in the SCC, while the Tartars dropped to 2-34 overall and 1-15. Cerritos also becomes the first team in Southern California to win 30 games this season and second in the state behind Fresno City.
On Thursday, the Falcons will begin an important two-game series with El Camino College (23-12, 10-5) when they travel to Torrance for a 2:30 p.m. game. The two teams will then square off at Kincaid Field on Saturday at noon.
In the top of the second inning, freshman first baseman Trever Blood (La Mirada HS) led off with a walk and came home on a home run by sophomore catcher Phil Rodriguez (Norwalk HS), his fifth of the season. Freshman outfielder Anthony Topete (Norwalk HS) and freshman designated hitter Guillermo Garcia (Artesia HS) followed with base hits. After freshman third baseman Miguel Flores (St. John Bosco) moved them over with a sacrifice bunt, sophomore outfielder Jake Moore (Palisade, CO HS) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Armstrong followed with a triple off starting pitcher Shadi Abuhakmeh, which gave the Falcons a 5-0 lead.
The offense was plenty for Dominguez, who limited the Tartars to just four base hits in his eight inning of work, while he struck out four. He wasn't in trouble at all during the game and recorded 11 ground ball outs. Sophomore Ryan Chiazza (California HS) pitched the ninth inning and allowed an unearned run.
Cerritos capitalized on three Compton errors on the day, which led to two of their final three runs of the game. Armstrong collected his fourth RBI on the day when he singled home Garcia in the fourth inning after he singled, stole second base and then advanced to third on a passed ball. In the sixth, Topete walked, moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on a single by Flores. Topete drove in the final run for the Falcons, as he singled in Blood, who reached on a fielder's choice and moved up 90 feet on another error.
On the day, Armstrong had three hits, while Topete (two runs, RBI) and Garcia (two runs) each had two hits.
