After a pair of late-inning heroics in their first two South Coast Conference games against ECC Compton Center, the Cerritos College baseball team ran out of steam, as they dropped an 8-1 decision on Saturday. The loss dropped the Falcons to 8-10 on the season and 3-3 in conference play. They will open a three-game series against Long Beach City College on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at Kincaid Field.

An error in the bottom of the second inning allowed a pair of Tartar runs to score before Cerritos received a run of their own, courtesy of an error in the top of the third inning. Freshman Jacob Valdez (Katella HS) reached base on an error, stole second and came home on a single by sophomore second baseman Tyler Acevedo (Sunny Hills HS/Irvine Valley College). 

However, the Falcons would only be able to advance three runners to second base the remainder of the game, as Nick Sanchez tossed a complete game and struck out 10 batters. Compton was only able to record four hits off the five Cerritos pitchers they faced on the day, but received 10 walks and three Falcon errors. Five of the walks came home to score, with LeJohn Baker giving Compton a 6-1 lead with a two-run home run in the sixth inning.

Sophomore Dalton Gervais (Rogers, WA HS/Grays Harbor, WA CC) took the loss, as he pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed three runs (all unearned), before freshmen Spencer Long (La Habra HS) and Christian Smith (Garden Grove HS) combined to surrender five runs and seven walks in four innings.

Photo by Daryl Peterson