|
The talk prior to
the first round of the Southern California Regional
Playoffs was that the Cerritos College baseball team
would be facing a pair or pitchers from Mt. San
Jacinto College that put up very impressive numbers
on the year. The Falcons, seeded #11, were facing
the #7-seeded Eagles in a best-of-three series
starting on Friday afternoon. After taking an early
1-0 lead, Cerritos saw Mt. San Jacinto open up a 9-1
lead after five innings. But the sixth, Falcons were
able to plate five runners against starting pitcher
BJ Salsbury, who came into the game with a 13-1
record and a 1.93 ERA. Although they got as close as
9-6, Cerritos could not shut down the bats of Mt.
San Jacinto, who posted a 13-7 win.
Cerritos (26-16)
must now win two games tomorrow to advance to the
Super Regional next weekend. They face the Eagles
(32-10) at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday and with a win,
play a second game 30 minutes afterwards.
The Falcons
managed to take a 1-0 lead on Salsbury in the top of
the second inning. Sophomore outfielder
David Neff
(John Glenn HS) led off with a base hit and
went to third base on a single by sophomore
outfielder
Brandon
Pesante (La Mirada HS). Neff
then came home on an infield single by sophomore
catcher
Paul Hayes
(Bellflower HS).
The Eagles pushed
across six runs in the fourth inning off sophomore
starter
George
Sanchez (Gahr HS), who was
pitching very well until then, despite hitting three
batters. The third hit batter came against Garret
Caldwell to lead off the inning, while a Sanchez
throwing error on a bunt by Jeff Bunch put runners
at first and third. Devin Greco drove in a run with
a single, while Ryan Lefevre was walked with the
bases loaded to bring in the second run. Anthony
Smith then doubled in two runs before Drew Madrigal
picked up a pair of RBI with a base hit to close out
the scoring.
Down 9-1, Cerritos
mounted a rally in the sixth inning when sophomore
third baseman
Brian
Gaylord (La Mirada HS) led off
with a single. Just like in the Mt. San Jacinto
fourth inning, a throwing error on a fielder's
choice allowed runners to reach base. After Neff
walked to load the bases, freshman designated hitter
Jacob Eaton (Calvary Chapel HS)
drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Pesante then
drove in a pair with a base hit, while freshman
first baseman
Josh Bryan
(La Mirada HS) launched a two-run home run
to get the team to within 9-6.
But that's as
close as the Falcons would get, as the Eagles scored
three more in the second and added another to
account for the final score.
On the day, Bryan
(2-for-3, 3 RBI, two runs), Pesante (2-for-4, 2 RBI,
run) and freshman second baseman
Joe Terry
(Long Beach Poly HS), who went 2-for-5, all
had a pair of hits for Cerritos. Smith (3-for-6, 3
RBI, two runs), Madrigan (2-for-5, 3 RBI) and Randy
Bruce (3-for-4, RBI) led a 15-hit day for the
Eagles.
|
