Discovering a flair for the dramatic in the latter part of the season, the Cerritos College baseball team saw Los Angeles Harbor extend their game to extra innings before coming away with an 11-9 South Coast Conference win on Saturday. The Falcons (13-17, 8-7) saw the Seahawks (10-19-1, 6-9) tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with a pair of runs to extend their game. In the 10th inning, Cerritos scored three runs for an 11-8 lead and had to hold off the Seahawks before posting the win. With six games left in the regular season, the Falcons continue to try and put themselves in a position for a post-season bid and will now open a three-game series against El Camino College (15-15, 7-8). They will host the Warriors at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

In the 10th inning, freshman outfielder Johnny Martinez (Katella HS) reached base on an error, stole second base and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. That set the table for freshman third baseman Hayden Stevens (Katella HS), who won Thursday's game with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. He came through once again with a double to left field that plated Martinez. After Stevens stole third base and freshman designated hitter Zach Diaz (Highland HS) drew a walk before freshman first baseman Jose Romero (Whittier HS) singled home Stevens. Freshman outfielder Jose Ayala (Maywood Academy HS) closed out the scoring with an RBI single, his third hit of the day.

Freshman starting pitcher Dylan Algra (Valley Christian HS), who pitched a complete game in his last start despite a slow first inning, wasn't able to escape the damage against the Seahawks. LA Harbor was able to score three times in the bottom of the first inning and Algra was pulled with one out and replaced by sophomore Dylan Gervais (Rogers, WA HS/Grays Harbor, WA CC), who tossed four scoreless innings.

But by the ninth inning, Cerritos was leading 8-6 and was three outs away from the win. Freshman relief pitcher Elpidio Martin (Lynwood HS), who earned the win on Thursday, recorded a pair of outs before an unearned run brought on freshman Jared Robinson (Bishop Amat HS), who saw a passed ball bring home the tying run. After escaping the inning and seeing his teammates score three times in the top of the 10th inning, Robinson surrendered a pair of hits and allowed a run in the bottom of the stanza, but held on to earn the win.

On the day, Ayala (3-for-5, three RBI), Diaz (3-for-5, four runs) and Romero (3-for-4, two RBI) led the team offensively, while Stevens, freshman shortstop Jacob Valdez (Katella HS) and freshman outfielder Joseph Rivera (Savanna HS) each added a pair of hits for the Falcons, who clubbed 17 in the game.

Photo by Daryl Peterson