Heading into the ninth inning, the Cerritos College baseball team had scraped their way into a 2-2 tie with Santa Ana College on Saturday at Kincaid Field. The Falcons, looking to end a three-game losing skid, saw four relief pitchers allow three runs on just one hit, while they hit a combined four batters and walked another, as the Dons went on to record a 5-2 victory. Cerritos (1-5) will now travel to Golden West College for a 2:00 p.m. game on Tuesday.

Freshman starting pitcher Jared Robinson (Bishop Amat HS) was able to retire 16 of the first 21 batters he faced, but did not have an answer for Tyler Madrid. In the sixth inning, Madrid clubbed a two-run double to give Santa Ana a 2-1 lead. In his seven innings of work, Robinson allowed just three hits and struck out eight batters in a solid effort.

But in the ninth inning, sophomore Jared Gibson (Downey HS) allowed a hard, one-hop single to Collin Nyenhuis before a sacrifice advanced the runner to second base. Gibson was replaced by freshman Elpidio Martin (Lynwood HS), who threw four pitches and hit three batters, with the third forcing in the go-ahead run. Enter freshman Luis Gallegos (California HS), who hit Ryan Aguilar with his first pitch to bring home another run, while a walk to JB Bryant accounted for the third run of the inning and the departure of Gallegos. Freshman Dylan Algra (Valley Christian HS) recorded the final two out of the inning on a play at the plate and an infield out.

Cerritos took a 1-0 lead off Dons pitcher Richard Diaz (3-0), who struck out 11 batters, with a lead-off walk against freshman shortstop Jacob Valdez (Katella HS). With one out, freshman outfielder Johnny Martinez (Katella HS) hit a roller up the middle, where Santa Ana shortstop Derek Meddings looked to start a double play, but was unable to control the ball. Sophomore second baseman Cesar Castillo (Bellflower HS) then sing,ed home Valdez for the team's first run.

It wouldn't be until the eighth inning that the Falcons collected their second hit of the game, as Valdez opened the stanza with a hard ground ball that deflected off the pitching rubber for a base hit. After advancing on a sacrifice bunt and ground out, Castillo scored on a wild pitch.

Photo by Daryl Peterson