After being held scoreless a day before, the Cerritos College baseball team clubbed 11 hits, while the bottom two batters in the lineup drove in five runs. The end result was a 7-4 non-conference win over Cerro Coso College (2-9), as the Falcons improved their record to 4-6. The two teams will meet up at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday in Ridgecrest.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Cerritos received singles by freshman designated hitter Myles Mendez (Long Beach Poly HS) and sophomore shortstop Tyler Acevedo (Sunny Hills HS/Irvine Valley CC), which set the table for freshman catcher Anthony Vazquez (Bellflower HS) from his ninth spot in the battting order. He laced a 1-1 offering from Coyotes pitcher Thomas Shelley for a two-run double, which pulled the team to within a 4-3 score. In the top of the fourth inning, three Falcon errors led to three Cerro Coso runs and a 4-1 advantage.

In the fifth inning, freshman third baseman Hayden Stevens (Katella HS) doubled into right-center field before Coyotes second baseman LaGeary Stewart committed an error to put runners at first and third with one out. Freshman first baseman Zach Diaz (Highland HS) responded with a run-scoring single before Acevedo, batting in the eighth position, tripled over left fielder Mike Yenkowski's head for a two-run triple. The Falcons added an insurance run in the sixth when freshman pinch-hitter Joel Ayala (Maywood Academy HS) laid down a squeeze bunt that plated freshman Johnny Martinez (Katella HS). On the play before the bunt, Martinez went from first to third on a sacrifice bunt, when third base was left unattended.

Freshman pitcher Jared Robinson (Bishop Amat HS), who has pitched well all season, earned his first win of the year after going the first five innings. He allowed all four runs, but they were unearned, as Cerritos committed five errors on the day. Robinson struck out seven batters and allowed four singles. Sophomore Sebastian Frutos (Bellflower HS) threw the final four innings and surrendered just two hits to earn his first save of the year.

Photo by Daryl Peterson