Softball: One bad inning leads to Falcon loss

Sophia Collazo slapped out a single in her first at-bat
Sophia Collazo slapped out a single in her first at-bat

Aside from the second inning, where visiting El Camino College batted around and scored four times, the Cerritos College softball team out-hit the Warriors. But it was the four-run second inning that helped El Camino to a 6-0 South Coast Conference victory over the Falcons (7-8, 4-5) at Nancy Kelly Field on Tuesday. The team is scheduled to travel to Chaffey College for a 3:00 p.m. conference game on Thursday.

Trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning, freshman designated player Sophia Collazo (Paramount HS) singled with one out and moved to second base on a single from freshman outfielder Haley Davis (Mayfair HS). With two outs, sophomore first baseman Keira Bolinas (Torrance HS) blooped a single inside the left field foul line to load the bases. However, sophomore third baseman Kayla Hernandez (Santa Fe HS) grounded out to end the inning.

In addition to their clutch hitting, the Warriors also turned in several outstanding defensive plays to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard. The turned a double play to end the fourth inning, as well as the sixth inning when Cerritos put the first two runners on base. In that sixth inning, sophomore shortstop Tena Spoolstra (Mayfair HS) led off with a bunt single and stole second base. Bolinas followed with a single to put runners on first and third. However, Warriors second baseman Brooklyn Araujo fielded a hard ground ball into the hole by freshman outfielder Itzel Soto (Long Beach Millikan HS), who resulted in a double play.

Davis made two outstanding diving catches of her own in centerfield to steal hits away from El Camino.

Freshman pitcher Skyler Swearingen (Mayfair HS) suffered the loss after allowing the first four runs, while sophomore Ally Udell (Whittier Christian HS) came on in the second inning and allowed two runs on four hits over five innings.

Photos by Daryl Peterson