Not many people would have expected Cerritos College freshman catcher Gary James (Sunny Hills HS) to hit two triples in one game. Even less would believe that James scored on a wild appeal throw, which turned out to be the lone run in the Falcons 1-0 South Coast Conference win over visiting Mt. San Antonio College on Thursday. With the win, Cerritos is now 10-7 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while the Mounties dropped to 10-7 and 3-2. The two teams will conclude their three-game series at noon on Saturday at Mt. SAC.

In the bottom of the second inning, James (pictured, left) recorded his first triple of the game, but was thrown out at the plate on a suicide squeeze bunt by sophomore outfielder Shane Preston (Deer Creek, OK HS). In his next trip to the plate, James lined a ball down the left field line and wound up at third to lead off the fifth inning. It was the 22nd time in school history a Falcon player had at  least two triples in a game.

After the play, Mt. SAC pitcher Josh Avila (1-1) attempted to appeal that James missed second base. However, there wasn't anyone covering second base and his throw sailed into center field, allowing James to score.

On the mound for Cerritos, freshman Valentin Flores-Gomez (Gahr HS) pitched into the fifth inning, but was pulled after allowing leadoff singles to Esteban Ortega and Dustin Frailey. The hit by Ortega careened off Flores-Gomez's shin, which may have affected his pitching. Sophomore George Mendoza (Bell Gardens HS) came on and pitched five innings of two-hit ball to earn the win. He set down the next three batters in the fifth inning to get out of the jam.

The Mounties looked to launch a scoring threat in the sixth inning, but Mendoza struck out Michael Najera and James caught Travis Santiago trying to steal second for an inning-ending double play. In his appearance, Mendoza retired 14 of the 16 batters he faced.

Photos by Daryl Peterson