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Sophomore shortstop Jerry Pena (Los Altos
HS) broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run single in the
bottom of the fifth inning to help lead the Cerritos
College baseball team to a 5-3 non-conference win at
Kincaid Field on Tuesday afternoon. The win was the
fourth in a row for the Falcons (5-1), who will play
four home games in as many days starting on Thursday at
2:00 p.m. against Victory Valley College.
After the
Rustlers (4-2) went up 3-2 with two runs in the top
of the fifth inning, Cerritos capitalized on two
walks to help them plate three runners. With one
out, freshman second baseman Brandon Pesante
(La Mirada HS) and sophomore outfielder
Anthony Topete (Norwalk HS) each drew
walks off Golden West starter Josh Larson. Sophomore
first baseman Trever Blood (La Mirada HS)
tied the game with a run-scoring double to left
field, which prompted a pitching change by the
Rustlers.
Pena then
drove a 1-0 pitch off Nick Plantz into the
right-center field gap, which scored Topete and
Blood, giving the Falcons their 5-3 advantage.
The lead
would hold up for sophomore starter John Ortega
(Downey HS), who pitched a gem to earn his
second win of the season. In seven innings of work,
Ortega allowed six hits and three runs, while he
struck out six batters, including the side in his
final inning of work. He did allow a two-run double
to Chris Pascual in the top of the fifth inning, but
retired eight of the final batters he faced.
Freshman
George Sanchez (Gahr HS) pitched the
eighth inning and allowed a hit and a walk, but got
Adam Denton to ground out to third baseman Chad
Ostahowski (Lake Elsinore HS) for the
final out of the inning. In the ninth inning,
sophomore Miguel Flores (St. John Bosco HS)
surrendered a single and a walk with two outs and
then unleashed a wild pitch, putting runners at
second and third base. But Flores earned his first
save on the year when he got Cameron McMullen to
ground out to Pena for the third out.
Cerritos
took advantage of two Golden West errors in the
first inning to take a 1-0 lead, as Pesante led off
the inning by reaching on a error and advanced to
second base on a failed pickoff attempt by Larson.
Then, with two outs. Pena drove him in with a
single. Freshman catcher AJ Rodriguez (Gahr
HS) also collected an RBI with a double in the
second inning that scored Ostahowski. |
