Freshman third baseman Hayden Stevens (Katella HS) singled home pinch-runner Tyler Acevedo (Sunny Hills HS/Irvine Valley College) with the game-winning run in the eighth inning, as the Cerritos College baseball team defeated Ventura College, 5-4 on Thursday at Kincaid Field. The win by the Falcons (3-5) was their second in as many days, while the Pirates fell to 3-6. The two teams will meet up against 2:00 p.m. next Tuesday in Ventura.

With the score tied at 4-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, freshman pinch-hitter Myles Mendez (Long Beach Poly HS) drilled the first offering from Jacob Murray (1-1) over center fielder Wesley Soloman's head for a lead-off double. Acevedo came in to pinch-run and scored on the base hit up the middle by Stevens, who also drove in a run in the first inning with a ground out.

Facing the top-hitting team in the state, Falcon freshman pitcher Jared Robinson (Bishop Amat HS) fared well, as he allowed all four runs in five innings, but struck out six and worked out of several jams. He was successful at getting ahead of the batters, but Ventura drew three two-strike walks and added three two-strike hits, with two of each coming in their two-run third inning. Freshman Spencer Long (La Habra HS) came on in the sxith inning and pitched into the seventh inning, with sophomore Sebastian Frutos (Bellflower HS) getting Soloman to ground into a double play to end a threat in the seventh. Frutos (2-0) allowed single base runners in the final two innings, but finished off the game by striking out Eric Contreras, who singled home a pair of Ventura runs in the third inning.

Offensively, Cerritos received a run-scoring single from sophomore designated hitter Dalton Gervais (Rogers, WA HS/Grays Harbor, WA CC) in the first inning, while freshman shortstop Jacob Valdez (Katella HS) and freshman outfielder Edgar Menendez (Katella HS) each added RBI hits to tie the game at 4-4 in the fourth inning.

The appearance by Ventura at Kincaid Field was their first since 1992, when the Falcons faced them in a Southern California Regional Playoff series, where Cerritos swept the Pirates, 2-0.

Photo by Daryl Peterson