Baseball: Late runs cost Falcons in 6-4 conference loss

File Photo: Luis Chavarin, Jr. had a pair of hits for Cerritos
File Photo: Luis Chavarin, Jr. had a pair of hits for Cerritos

Holding to a slim 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Cerritos College baseball team allowed three runs to host East Los Angeles College. As a result, the Falcons (5-9-1, 1-3) 3) ended up losing, 6-4 in the first of their three-game South Coast Conference series with the Huskies. The teams will meet up at Kincaid Field at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Trailing 3-2 after the first six innings, Cerritos scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to take a 4-3 lead. In the inning, freshman outfielder Julian Francois (Serra HS) doubled home sophomore outfielder Hasan Standifer (San Pedro HS/Jackson State University), who reached base on a fielder's choice. After Francois stole third base with two outs, he came home on a single up the middle by freshman first baseman Sawyer Chesley (Laguna Beach HS).

Falcon starting pitcher Steven Salazar (Sonora HS) pitched the first six innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out five batters. Freshman relief pitcher Carter Stoddard (Sunny Hills HS) was victimized for the three runs in the eighth inning and suffered the loss.

Francois had a hand in the team's first run to start the game, as he singled to lead off the game. He then stole second base and advanced to third in a throwing error. Freshman outfielder Luis Chavarin, Jr. (Sonora HS) plated Francois with a single. Freshman second baseman Dean Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) collected an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.

On the day, Francois, Chavarin, Jr. and Chesley accounted for six of the seven hits for the Falcons.