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| 05.11.07 - John Ortega pitched a stellar game to open the best two-of-three series against Moorpark Friday afternoon at Kincaid field. However it was not enough as the Falcons lost 5-4. |
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After jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Cerritos College baseball team saw Moorpark College score five unanswered runs and went on to lose, 5-4 in the first game of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. Game two of the best two-out-of-three series will be at Kincaid Field on Saturday at 11:00 a.m., with a second game to be played 30 minutes afterwards, if necessary. The Falcons (33-12), seeded #5 in the playoffs, did score two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but could not tie the game in the ninth against the Raiders (26-17), the #12-seeded team.
In the first inning, sophomore outfielder Nick Armstrong (Marina HS) drew a walk to lead off, advanced to second base on a sacrifice and with two outs, the Falcons got an RBI single from sophomore catcher Phil Rodriguez (Norwalk HS), followed by a run-scoring double from sophomore outfielder Andrew Baslow (Chatsworth HS).
The Raiders picked up single runs against freshman starting pitcher John Ortega (Downey HS) in the third and fifth innings, and scored three unearned runs in the seventh inning to take a 5-2 lead. Ortega pitched a stellar game, as he struck out 10, including four consecutive batters who were caught looking. On the other side, Moorpark starter Brian Priestley went just two innings and allowed two runs on three hits and three walks, before he was removed for Bret Montgomery.
In the five innings Montgomery worked on the mound, he allowed five hits and two runs, while he struck out three. His biggest strikeout came in the bottom of the fifth inning after Cerritos loaded the bases on a base hit by freshman first baseman Trever Blood (La Mirada HS), while Baslow and freshman shortstop Jerry Pena (Los Altos HS) both walked. Freshman designated hitter Guillermo Garcia (Artesia HS) was then called out on strikes on a full count with the game still tied, 2-2.
Prior to the seventh inning, Ortega had only allowed five hits, with three to Nick Dingman (who drove in both runs) and the other two to Evan Johnson (who scored both runs). In the seventh inning, Jared Rodriguez led off with a base hit for Moorpark. After he was advanced to second base on a sacrifice, Tucker Mabee was hit by a pitch. Up stepped Phillip Johnson, who grounded a ball toward second base. Pena picked up the ball, tried to tag out Mabee and then threw to first base, where it got past Blood and allowed the first run of the inning to score. After an intentional walk to Dingman, Dylan Gaughen followed with a base hit up the middle to score the second run. Paul Olsen followed with a sacrifice fly for the third run, while on the play, Dingman got caught in a rundown and was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the inning.
Cerritos got as close as 5-4 after scoring twice in the eight inning. Baslow reached base on an infield single before Pena drew a walk. That brought on Gaughen, the team's closer with 10 saves, to pitch. He allowed an RBI single to sophomore second baseman Jose Serrano (Artesia HS) and a sacrifice fly to freshman third baseman Miguel Flores (St. John Bosco HS) in the eighth after he inherited runners at first and second base with no outs. The Falcons did get a two-out double from Baslow in the ninth, but Pena flew out for the third out.
On the day, Baslow and Serrano each had three hits for the Falcons, while Dingman had three for the Raiders.
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