05.10.08 - Cerritos baseball suffered two defeats at the hands of Bakersfield College Saturday afternoon, eliminating them from further post-season contention. Photo Gallery

    If informed that his two pitching aces would throw complete games after the first two games of their Southern California Regional Playoff series against Bakersfield College, Cerritos College baseball head coach Ken Gaylord would more then likely be satisfied with that effort. After sophomore Miguel Flores (St. John Bosco HS) tossed a five-hitter in an opening 4-1 win over the Renegades (30-17) on Friday, sophomore John Ortega (Downey HS) surrendered eight hits and struck out 13 batters in his complete game effort. But the Falcons came up short offensively, 3-2, in that game, forcing a third and deciding game at Kincaid Field on Saturday. That’s where Gaylord would have stopped being satisfied, as Cerritos (30-16) fell behind 10-2 and went on to lose, 14-7, which eliminated them from the playoffs and ended their season. The consecutive losses at home in the first round of the playoffs marks the second season in a row that the Falcons were swept out of the playoffs.

    In that all-important first game of the day, Bakersfield took a 2-0 lead into the top of the seventh inning, as the Falcons were the designated visiting team in the game. Cerritos went on to tie the game in that stanza, as sophomore shortstop Jerry Pena (Los Altos HS) led off with a double down the left field line. After sophomore first baseman George Sanchez (Gahr HS) singled, freshman designated hitter AJ Rodriguez (Gahr HS) cut the deficit in half with a run-scoring single off pitcher Kyle Whitten. Then, with two outs, sophomore outfielder Anthony Topete (Norwalk HS) tied the game with a base hit that scored Sanchez.

    However, the Renegades went on to score the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Casey Brown led off with a base hit. He was sacrificed to second base by Tyler Garewal before Jeff Burleson was walked intentionally. After Ortega struck out Justin Gordon, A.J. Day singled to right field, which brought home Brown with the game-winning run. Whitten was able to keep up with Ortega, who struck out 13, as he finished with 11 of his own to earn the win.

    There was little doubt in the outcome of the deciding game, as Bakersfield scored five times in the top of the first inning off freshman Jay Heirigs (Rocklin HS). It was a 10-2 game after three innings and the Falcons were only able to generate a small rally behind a bases loaded double by sophomore outfielder Trever Blood (La Mirada HS), which made the score 12-5 in the fifth inning.