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| 03.31.07 - Phil Rodriguez drilled a bases loaded triple in the bottom of the third inning to help lead Cerritos to a 5-0 victory Saturday afternoon. |
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Although the Cerritos College baseball team was only able to get four hits in their South Coast Conference game against Pasadena City College at Kincaid Field on Saturday afternoon, they came up with the big hit when needed. Sophomore catcher Phil Rodriguez (Norwalk HS) drilled a bases loaded triple in the bottom of the third inning to help lead the Falcons to a 5-0 win against the Lancers. With the win, Cerritos, ranked #1 in Southern California, is now 25-5 overall and 13-1 in the SCC, while Pasadena City dropped to 6-24 on the year and 3-11 in conference play. The team will now enter the Allan Hancock Tournament next week and play Fresno City College at Hancock College on Tuesday (6:00 p.m.), the host Bulldogs on Wednesday (1:00 p.m.) and then go to Cuesta College to face the Cougars on Thursday at noon.
In the four-run third inning, the lone hit by the Falcons was the three-run triple by Rodriguez. Sophomore designated hitter David Gurbach (Aliso Niguel HS) reached second base on a throwing error by Lancer third baseman Jacob King before sophomore outfielder Nick Armstrong (Marina HS) drew a walk. The next batter, sophomore second baseman Jose Serrano (Artesia HS), hit a ball to King at third, who tried to get Gurbach leaning off the bag, but was late on the tag, which loaded the bases. Freshman shortstop Jerry Pena (Los Altos HS) was then hit by a pitch to force in the first run of the game.
Freshman first baseman Trever Blood (La Mirada HS) appeared to have gone down on strikes against Lancer starting pitcher Jose Barajas for the second out of the inning. But the umpire ruled that catcher Gabriel Chavez dropped the foul tip and Blood then hit into a fielder's choice, with Armstrong out at the plate. That set the stage for Rodriguez, who drilled the 0-2 pitch to the deepest part of Kincaid Field and over Paul Aguilar's head in center field for a stand-up triple.
Sophomore starting pitcher Kevin Camacho (Santa Fe HS) allowed six singles in his eight innings of work and struck out six to earn his fifth win of the season. But he had to work out of trouble in the second and fourth innings to do so. With runners on first and second base with one out in the second inning, King lined a shot to Serrano at second base as he moved back into position, and he threw to Blood at first base for a double play to end the inning. After three straight singles loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, King grounded into a fielder's choice to end that rally. Camacho then set down 11 of the final 12 batters he faced before coming out after eight innings.
The Falcons picked up their fifth run without the benefit of a hit in the seventh inning. Armstrong was hit by a pitch with one out, while Serrano drew a walk. On the first pitch to Pena, the two pulled off a double steal, while a ground out by Pena brought home Armstrong.
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