Cerritos College sophomore pitcher Kyle Carpenter (Mayfair HS) retired the first 16 El Camino College batters on Thursday, en route to a 10-2 South Coast Conference win. Carpenter (3-2) had his perfect game bid thwarted with one out in the sixth inning, which turned out to be the only hit he allowed, as the Falcons (19-13, 11-6) remained in second place with the win. They complete their three-game series against El Camino (21-11, 9-8) at noon on Saturday at Kincaid Field.

The team spotted Carpenter an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning as freshman outfielder Mark Pena (Bell Gardens HS) led off with a single. After getting advanced to second base on a sacrifce, he moved to third on a wild pitch. With one out, sophomore third baseman Victor Guadalupe (La Quinta HS) and freshman catcher Gary James (Sunny Hills HS) each drew walks to load the bases. Freshman outfielder Jesse Perdomo (California HS) drove in two with a base hit, while a sacrifice fly by freshman shortstop Benny Arce (Santa Monica HS) accounted for the third run.

Three more runs in the fifth and two in the sixth gave the team a comfortable 8-0 lead, with Carpenter setting down the first 15 batters. After he retired his 16th straight batter, Zach Decuitus singled to left field to end the perfect game. The final eight batters that faced Carpenter were retired, while he struck out six batters.

Perdomo finished the game with a season-high four hits, while Arce drove in three runs without the benefit of a hit. He drew a pair of bases loaded walks, with the Falcons receiving nine free passes and were hit by three pitches.