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| 05.01.07 - John Ortega pitched a complete game in Cerritos' final contest of the regular season Tuesday afternoon. The Falcons went on to win 3-1 and now wait to find out where they will be seeded in the playoffs beginning May 12-13. |
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Cerritos College freshman pitcher John Ortega (Downey HS) pitched his first complete game of the season, as he led the Falcons to a crucial 3-1 South Coast Conference win against cross-town rival Long Beach City College on Tuesday afternoon at Kincaid Field. With the win, the Falcons conclude their regular season 32-11 overall and 18-6 in the SCC, while the Vikings dropped to 22-20 overall and 12-10 in conference play. Cerritos must now wait until next Monday to find out where they will be seeded in the Southern California Regional Playoffs, which starts on May 12-13 with the first round being a best two-out-of-three series.
The Falcons got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when sophomore outfielder Nick Armstrong (Marina HS) drew a walk off starting pitcher Josh Williams (5-7) to lead off the inning. After freshman outfielder Anthony Topete (Norwalk HS) sacrificed him to second base, freshman first baseman Trever Blood (La Mirada HS) drove him in with a base hit. Long Beach City did tie the game with their lone run in the second inning on a base hit by Paul Hayes, which drove in Derek Wurtz. In the next inning, Cerritos regained the lead for good with a run in the third. Sophomore second baseman Jose Serrano (Artesia HS) walked to lead off the inning and after Armstrong beat out a bunt for a base hit to put runners at first and second, Topete once again moved the runners over with a bunt. Blood picked up his second RBI of the game on a ground out.
Ortega, who improved his record to 9-2 on the season, worked out of a jam in the fourth inning as he got Sean Beckley to ground into an inning ending double play with runners at first and third. He was helped along by another double play to end the sixth inning, as Daniel Prieto started the play.
However, in the ninth inning, the Vikings looked to cause some trouble, as Chris Cordova led off the inning with a base hit. Prieto then drilled the first pitch from Ortega into the deepest part of Kincaid Field, but Armstrong was able to get to the ball and recorded a 420-foot out. Wurtz then singled to put runners at first and second before Ortega got Curtis Thompson to fly out and then struck out pinch-hitter Andy Beard to end the game.
As for Williams, he went the distance and allowed seven hits, while striking out three. Ortega surrendered eight hits and struck out three.
