Staying within striking distance through the first half of the game, the Cerritos College baseball team saw their bullpen give up nine runs in the last three innings in a 12-6 South Coast Conference loss against host Pasadena City College on Tuesday. Although they were trailing 10-1 at one point, the Falcons (7-28, 5-16) scored five times in the top of the eighth inning to get to within 10-6. However, the Lancers (23-13, 13-8) scored three more times in the bottom of the eighth inning and held on for the win. The two teams will meet up at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at Kincaid Field.
In the five-run eighth inning, sophomore catcher Andre Alvarez (Walnut HS) led off with a double, followed by a walk to freshman Nicholas Martinez (La Serna HS), who started the game on the mound and then stayed in as the designated hitter. Consecutive RBI singles from sophomore shortstop Aaron Paek (Sunny Hills HS/Hope International University), freshman third baseman Matt Den Hartog (Los Alamitos HS) and freshman second baseman Gregory Navarro III (West Covina HS) accounted for the first three runs of the inning. With the bases loaded, a double play brought in a run, with sophomore first baseman Michael Gonzalez (St. Bernard HS) driving in the final run with a base hit.
The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when freshman outfielder Wyatt Hall (Long Beach Millikan HS) singled, moved to second base on an error and then came home on another Lancer error.
That advantage would last only until the third inning, as Pasadena City scored twice in the stanza and followed with multiple runs in the fifth through eighth innings.