With a chance to put more distance between their closest competition, the Cerritos College softball team dropped a 9-1 South Coast Conference decision against Mt. San Antonio College on Wednesday at Nancy Kelly Field. The loss keeps the Falcons (24-8, 13-2) in first place in the SCC, where they lead the Mounties (25-4, 12-3) and East Los Angeles College (23-7, 12-3) by one game with six games remaining. Cerritos will host Cypress College (22-7) in a non-conference game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Mt. SAC jumped on the board in the top of the first inning with three runs, including a solo home run by Devin Vanderhoff. The Falcons didn't help their cause, as sophomore Stephanie Olivas (Santa Fe HS) allowed a run to score when her throw back to sophomore pitcher Jamie Ramirez (El Rancho HS) went over her head. The Mounties added four runs in the top of the fourth inning to put the game out of reach.

Ramirez (12-6), who suffered the loss in the circle, got the team with within 3-1 when she hit her third home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning. It was just one of four hits in the day for Cerritos, with Ramirez accounting for two of them. Sophomore first baseman Haley Whitney (Warren HS) and freshman outfielder Joanna Perruccio (Long Beach Wilson HS) had the other two. As a team, the Falcons also struck out 10 times in the loss.

Photos by Daryl Peterson