Despite 10 runs and 15 hits on Thursday, the Cerritos College baseball team was unable to keep Los Angeles Harbor College off the scoreboard in a 15-10 South Coast Conference loss. The setback was the fourth in a row for the Falcons, who will play the final game of their series on Saturday at noon in Wilmington.
Hurting the team in the loss was four errors, which accounted for seven of the first 10 runs being unearned. The Seahawks opened a 6-0 lead before Cerritos (4-19, 3-10) scored four times in the bottom of the third inning the make the game interesting. With runners on second and third, sophomore outfielder Cody Ahrens (Mayfair HS/Hope International University) lined a base hit through the infield to bring home the first run, while sophomore catcher Andre Alvarez (Walnut HS) followed with a two-run double. After advancing to third base, Alvarez scored on a wild pitch.
LA Harbor (9-18-1, 4-8-1) countered with four more runs in the top of the fourth inning (all unearned), with Ahrens clubbing a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to draw the team to within 10-6. Ahrens also drove in the team's seventh run with a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the sixth inning with a deep fly ball that looked to have tied the game at 10-10. The Seahawks put the game out of reach with four more runs in the seventh inning.
The Falcons, who scored in six of the last seven innings, could only get their runs one at a time, as sophomore first baseman Roberto Salazar, Jr. (Fullerton HS) launched a solo home run to lead off the seventh inning, with Ahrens driving in his fifth run of the game in the eighth inning. Sophomore designated hitter Trevor McInerney (Cerritos HS/El Camino College) drove in the final run in the ninth inning with a base hit.
On the day, both Ahrens and freshman second baseman Alejandro Bueno (Centennial, NV HS) posted three hits, with Bueno scoring three times. McInerney and sophomore outfielder Michael Gonzalez (St. Bernard HS) both had a pair of hits, while Cerritos left six of their 10 runners in scoring position.
Photos by Daryl Peterson
