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02.16.08
- Cerritos College head coach Ken
Gaylord discusses the situation at hand
with the team. |
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Photo
Gallery |
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In his last outing, Cerritos College sophomore
right-handed pitcher John Ortega (Downey HS)
limited Glendale College to just two hits and struck out
15 batters to record his third win of the season. In his
next start against Fullerton College on Saturday
afternoon, Ortega was pelted for four runs and 10 hits
in 4 2/3 innings of work, as the Falcons were shut out
at home for the second time this season, 10-0 by the
Hornets. The loss was the third in a row for Cerritos
(8-5), while Fullerton improved to 9-1 on the year. The
Falcons will now host Los Angeles Valley College on
Monday at noon in a make-up game from earlier in the
season.
Nothing went
right for the Falcons or Ortega on the day, who
surrendered base hits to the first two batters of
the game, but worked out of that jam with two
strikeouts and a ground ball. After a harmless
second and third innings and with two outs in the
fourth, Fullerton put together three consecutive
base hits, with the third being an RBI single by
Aaron Gland. They continued to find success against
Ortega in the fifth, as Erik Ornelas led off with a
double, followed by a base hit from Michael Vickary.
Mitch levier drove in a run with a ground out before
Michael Stephens and Robbie Robinson each added RBI
hits to chase Ortega.
What
followed was a parade of five relief pitchers that
combined to allow six runs (four earned) on nine
hits, as a result of as double-switch due to an
injury. Freshman catcher AJ Rodriguez (Gahr
HS) was injured while running out his double in
the second inning, with freshman Mario Romero
(Los Altos HS) coming on to replace him in
the fifth inning when Ortega was removed. But Romero
was already in the game as the designated hitter, so
the Falcons pinch-hit for their pitchers when their
spot came up in the order.
For the
Hornets, pitcher Josh Naslund may not have been
throwing hard, but he frustrated the Cerritos
hitters to the point where they were struggling to
make contact. Naslund finished the game with a
six-hitter and struck out three, while he received
19 hits from his offense, with 16 of them being
singles.
Romero had
two of the team’s six hits and also drew a walk, as
Cerritos has now scored just two runs in their last
three games. For Fullerton, Ornelas went 4-for-6
with three runs scored, while Vickary and Stephens
each added three hits and combined to drive in three
runs. |
