UPDATE: Rollie Nichols drove home Gabriel Gonzalez with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Falcons a 6-5 win over College of the Canyons. Gonzalez reached on a third strike wild pitch, stole second and came home on the base hit. Gilbert Romero pitched a perfect top of the 10th inning to earn the win.
Leading 5-1 heading into the top of the ninth inning, the Cerritos College baseball team allowed four runs against College of the Canyons and had their non-conference game suspended due to darkness at 5-5 with nine innings completed. They will finish the game on February 14 when the Falcons travel to take on the Cougars. Cerritos will now host Glendale College at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Making his first appearance since the 2015 season due to an injury, sophomore starting pitcher Valentin Flores-Gomez (Gahr HS) struggled a little out of the gate and allowed an unearned run in the first inning. He settled down and retired 18 of the final 23 batters he faced through six innings. He allowed three hits, two walks and hit a pair of batters, but did not give up another run the rest of the way. Flores-Gomez left the game with the Falcons leading, 5-1.
Cerritos took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning with a pair of runs. Sophomore outfielder Nick Penzetta (Kamehameha, HI HS) led off with a double and moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by freshman outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez (Santa Fe HS). Sophomore second baseman Jorge Rodriguez (Bellflower HS) drove in Penzetta with a base hit and followed that with a two-out stolen base, while moving to third on a throwing error. Freshman Andre Alvarez (Walnut HS) cashed in the run with a base hit.
In the fourth inning, freshman first baseman Michael Gonzalez (St. Bernard HS) led off with an infield hit, with sophomore shortstop Ramon Bramasco (Cathedral HS) lacing a double to put runners and second and third base. Penzetta walked to load the bases, which was followed by a run-scoring walk from Gabriel Gonzalez. That chased starting pitcher Eric Little, with the Falcons driving in runs on consecutive fielder's choices by Rodriguez and sophomore outfielder Rollie Nichols (Serra HS) for the 5-1 advantage.
Sophomore relief pitcher Edgar Velasquez (Montebello HS) did an admirable job in his two innings of work, striking out four of the seven batters he faced. But in that fateful ninth inning, sophomores Jakob Gonzalez (La Mirada HS/San Jose State University) and Micah Hee (Kamehameha, HI HS) were unable to record the final three outs to close out the game. After a leadoff walk, Jakob Gonzalez gave up consecutive hits with two strikes, while Hee followed by surrendering consecutive hits with two strikes, the second bringing home the game-tying run.
In his first action of the season, Bramasco has gone 3-for-5, while Rodriguez, Alvarez, sophomore second baseman Jesus Mercado (St. John Bosco HS) and Michael Gonzalez all collected a pair of hits.
Photos by Daryl Peterson
