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| 05.05.07 - Jessica Navarro limited Grossmont to one hit, clubbed two home runs and drove in six runs to during Cerritos' 9-0 playoff victory Saturday afternoon. |
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The Cerritos College softball team hit four home runs in their first game of the Southern California Regional Softball Playoffs on Saturday afternoon, which led them to a 9-0 win over Grossmont College that was halted in the sixth inning due to the mercy rule. The Falcons (31-9-1), seeded #4 in the playoffs, will now host the #13-seeded Griffins (24-8) on Sunday at noon in their second game of a best two-out-of-three series. If Cerritos wins, they will move on to the Super Regional, while a Grossmont win would force a third game, which would be played at 2:00 p.m.
Freshman pitcher Jessica Navarro (South Gate HS), who limited the Griffins to just one hit, was the offensive leader as well, as she clubbed two home runs and drove in six runs. She was 3-for-3 at the plate and drove in the first run of the game, a base hit that scored freshman catcher Nadine Garcia (Mayfair HS), who tripled with one out in the bottom of the first inning. Navarro then set a new single-season school record with her 10th home run of the season, a three-run blast into left-center field in the third inning that gave the Falcons a 4-0 lead. In that inning, freshman outfielder Amber Cardona (Schurr HS) led off with an infield hit and stole second base. After an out was recorded, Garcia singled to put runners on first and third. That set the table for Navarro, who drilled an 0-1 offering from Grossmont pitcher Jesse Peterson well over the fence.
The Falcons hit three more home runs in the last two innings, with Navarro chasing Peterson in the fifth inning with her second home run of the day, a two-run blast that also scored freshman shortstop Jenel Guadagno (Warren HS), who reached base on an infield single. After the pitching change, freshman second baseman Vanezza Martin Del Campo (St. Joseph HS) clubbed a solo blast, her eighth of the year. The game was halted in the bottom of the sixth inning when freshman outfielder Cecily Garcia (St. Joseph HS) led off with a walk and came home on a two-run home run by Guadagno, her first of the season.
Navarro allowed a first-inning single and a second-inning walk, and shut down the Griffins without any problem. Only one batter reached base after the second inning (on an error), as Navarro set down 14 of the final 15 batters she faced. The win was her 26th of the season and is one shy from tying the single season record of 27, set by Estella Gutierrez in 1987.
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