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| 04.21.07 - Cerritos suffered its first back-to-back losses of the season vs. El Camino Saturday afternoon. |
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The Cerritos College baseball team couldn't have picked a worse time to suffer back-to-back losses for the first time on the year. The Falcons, fighting to hold on to first place in the South Coast Conference, dropped a 4-1 home decision to El Camino College on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Cerritos, who entered the week ranked #1 in Southern California, dropped to 30-9 on the year, while they are now 16-4 in conference play. The Warriors moved closer to the head of the pack with the win and are now 26-12 on the season and 13-6 in the SCC. The Falcons, who have just four regular season games remaining, must now face hard-charging East Los Angeles College, who entered the day 12-5 in the conference. On Tuesday, the teams will play at East Los Angeles, while the series returns to Kincaid Field on Thursday, with both games starting at 2:30 p.m.
El Camino took an early 1-0 lead, as Falcon starter Kevin Camacho (Santa Fe HS) struggled with his control in the first inning. With a runner at first base, Robbie Estrada singled to put runners at first and second with one out. Camacho then hit Ramon Marquez in the foot with a pitch to loaded the bases before he hit Billy Madden in the foot to drive in a run. Camacho settled down over the next several innings and with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, he gave up a single to Estrada. Marquez then dribbled a ball just inside the third base bag and the throw home by Falcon left fielder Anthony Topete (Norwalk HS) was on line, but Estrada was able to get around the tag by catcher Phil Rodriguez (Norwalk HS).
Hits were hard to come by for Cerritos against Warrior starter Alan Gatz, who went eight innings and gave up the lone run, which was unearned. Sophomore Andrew Baslow (Chatsworth HS), who missed the last 12 games due to an injury, came on to pinch hit for sophomore outfielder Jake Moore (Palisade HS) in the bottom of the eighth inning. After his lead-off double, sophomore outfielder Nick Armstrong (Marina HS) popped up for the first out. Baslow then advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a ground out by sophomore second baseman Jose Serrano (Artesia HS).
In the ninth, El Camino took advantage of a Falcon error to help account for their final two runs. Brian Ramirez opened by drawing a full count walk against freshman close Miguel Flores (St. John Bosco HS). The next batter, Kyle Leamy, attempted to bunt and popped it up in front of freshman first baseman Trever Blood (La Mirada HS). After the ball bounced once in front of him, Blood appeared to have possession of the ball, but when he turned to throw to second base, dropped the ball. Estrada then pushed a bunt towards first base, but nobody covered the bag in time and the throw was late to load the bases. Marquez drove in the first run of the inning on a sacrifice fly, while Dane Braunecker singled in the second run, while Estrada was thrown out at the plate by Baslow, who stayed in the game to play right field.
Estrada led the Warriors with four hits, while Marquez had two. For the Falcons, Blood collected two hits and drew a walk, as the team had just six hits on the day.
SOUTH COAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS (AS OF APRIL 23)
|
TEAM |
SCC
RECORD |
OVERALL
RECORD |
|
CERRITOS |
16-4 |
30-9 |
|
East
Los
Angeles |
13-5 |
27-11 |
|
El
Camino |
13-5 |
26-12 |
|
Los
Angeles
Harbor |
13-5 |
21-17 |
|
Long
Beach
City |
11-9 |
21-19 |
|
Mt.
San
Antonio |
9-11 |
19-20 |
|
Pasadena
City |
5-13 |
10-27 |
|
Compton |
2-15 |
3-34 |
|
Los
Angeles
City |
1-16 |
2-31 |
|
