After winning the South
Coast Conference
championship for the second
year in a row, the Cerritos
College baseball team was
honored with their top
pitcher and head coach
earning the conference's top
awards. Sophomore pitcher
John Ortega (Downey
HS), who posted an 8-2
record with a 3.80 ERA and
66 strikeouts in 66 1/3
innings, was named the
conference's Pitcher of the
Year for the second
consecutive season. Along
with the award comes his
second straight appointment
to the All-State team, while
Ortega also finished the
season with an 11-5 record
with a 3.30 ERA and 118
strikeouts in 114 2/3
innings. Ortega was a
hard-luck loser in his final
game of the season, a 3-2
complete-game defeat with 13
strikeouts against
Bakersfield College in the
Southern California Regional
Playoffs. Falcon head coach
Ken Gaylord,
who led the team to a 20-4
SCC record and a #6
seed in the playoffs, was
named the conference's Coach
of the Year. It marks the
seventh time in his
community college coaching
career that he has earned
the award. The team finished
the season with a 30-16
record.
Also being named to the 1st
Team were sophomore pitcher
Miguel Flores (St.
John
Bosco HS),
outfielder
Trever
Blood (La
Mirada HS), sophomore
shortstop
Jerry Pena (Los
Altos HS) and freshman
designated hitter
George Sanchez (Gahr
HS). Flores, a two-time
1st Team selection, went 7-2
on the season with a 2.07
ERA and 121 strikeouts in
113 innings. In
SCC action, he posted
a 5-1 record with a 2.19 ERA
and 58 strikeouts in 55 2/3
innings of work. As for
Blood, he was a 2nd Team
selection last year at first
base, and followed that year
by batting .330 in
conference play with a
team-high five home runs,
while driving in 23 runs. On
the year, Blood led the team
with eight round-trippers,
43 RBI and 12 doubles, while
he batted .331. Pena, who
was also a 2nd Team
selection last year, hit at
a .343 clip on the year with
a team-high 57 hits and also
added nine doubles and 23
RBI. In conference play, he
stepped it up with a .355
batting average and drove in
13 runs. After starting the
year as a pitcher, Sanchez
was inserted into the
batting order and
immediately made an impact.
He played in the last 23
conference games of the year
and hit an amazing .427 with
a conference-leading 33 RBI,
while also leading the team
with 35 hits and seven
doubles. He concluded the
season with a .408 average
on the year with 35 RBI,
while he posted a 1-1 record
on the mound in 10 games.
Sanchez pitched in 25
innings and struck out 25
batters, while going 1-1 on
the year with one save.
The lone Falcon named to the
2nd Team was freshman
pitcher
Tony
Peraza (La
Mirada HS), who went
3-1 in conference action
with a 1.46 ERA and 25
strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings
and limited opponents to a
.198 batting average. On the
season, he was 4-2 with a
2.98 ERA in 48 1/3 innings.
Named to the Honorable
Mention team were sophomore
outfielder
Anthony
Topete (Norwalk
HS), along
with freshman pitchers
Jay
Heirigs (Rocklin
HS) and
Steve
Blanchette (Schurr
HS). In conference
play,
Topete hit .322
with eight RBI and was
flawless in center field,
while
Heirigs was 2-0 with
one save and a 2.88 ERA
with 17 strikeouts. As for
Blanchette, he posted
a 2-0 record and one save
with a 4.24 ERA and 15
strikeouts in 17 innings of
work.
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