Sophomore starting pitcher Sebastian Frutos (Bellflower HS) pitched eight shutout innings and freshman third baseman Hayden Stevens (Katella HS) tied a school record with a pair of triples, as the Cerritos College baseball team defeated Pasadena City College on Thursday at Kincaid Field. The win improved the Falcons to 10-16 overall and 5-6 in South Coast Conference play. The two teams will meet up at noon on Saturday at Kincaid Field.

Frutos was in control the entire way and surrendered just six hits over eight innings, while he struck out five Lancers (4-21, 1-10) to improve his record to 5-1 on the year. He struck out Tarik El Abour with runners at first and second to end the second inning, while a solid defensive play by Stevens left Cameron Silva at second base after his one-out double. Freshman Andrew Bueno (St. John Bosco HS) pitched the ninth inning.

A four-run third inning turned out to be enough offense for the Falcons, with Stevens hitting a triple that rolled past El Abour and to the wall, driving home freshman outfielders Joseph Rivera (Savanna HS) and Johnny Martinez (Katella HS) for a 3-0 lead. Martinez brought home the first run of the game with a base hit that plated sophomore second baseman Tyler Acevedo (Sunny Hills HS/Irvine Valley College). Stevens was driven home on a base hit by freshman first baseman Jose Romero (Whittier HS).

Stevens joined Ron Ewart (1985) and Ron Salcedo (1980) with his second triple of the game, as he laced a line drive to the right-center field wall in the fifth inning, but was stranded. A ground out by Acevedo drove in freshman outfielder Jose Ayala (Maywood Academy HS) in the sixth inning, while a pair errors by Lancer first baseman David Halstead allowed two runs to score on the same play to round out the scoring in the eighth inning. Defensively, Ayala made a pair of diving catches, with his second coming in the top of the ninth inning, which helped preserve the shutout.

Photo by Daryl Peterson