After getting out to an early 4-0 lead over El Camino College in their South Coast Conference game, the Cerritos College baseball team surrendered 10 of the final 11 runs in a 10-5 loss on Tuesday. The second of their three-game series will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at Kincaid Field. The Falcons (10-5, 3-1) are 3-6 in their last nine games against the Warriors (9-6, 3-1) dating back to 2018.
In the top of the second inning, freshman David Hays (St. John Bosco HS) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second base on a single by sophomore third baseman Richard Castro (Bishop Amat HS/Cal State San Bernardino). Sophomore first baseman Nicholas Martinez (La Serna HS) gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead after his two-run double down the left field line. After Martinez was advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt, he came home on a single by freshman outfielder Nolan Brown (Long Beach Poly HS). With runners on first and third, a fielding error off the bat of freshman second baseman Andres Vega (Mary Star of the Sea HS) allowed the fourth run of the inning to score.
But the Warriors bounced back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning off Hays and then put three more on the board in the fourth inning. Hays lasted just four innings, but El Camino was able to put three more runs on the board in the fifth inning off relief pitchers Adam Chavez (El Rancho HS) and John Chavez (St. John Bosco HS) to make it a 10-4 El Camino lead.
Cerritos pushed a run across the board in the top of the ninth inning when sophomore outfielder Buck Anderson (Lakewood HS/Cal State Bakersfield) doubled in Brown, who led off with a base hit.
Castro finished the day 3-for-4, while Brown added a pair of hits and scored twice. Sophomore shortstop Alex Bueno (Centennial, NV HS) returned to the lineup and went 2-for-5, with Martinez driving in two runs.