On the strength of their 7-0 win at Los Angeles Harbor College on Friday, the Cerritos College baseball team secured second place in the South Coast Conference, as well as a post-season bid. The Falcons (22-14, 14-7) were in contention for a three-way tie for the conference title, but that slipped away when Long Beach City College defeated ECC Compton Center to secure the championship.

The selection of the 18 teams for the Southern California Regional Playoffs will be announced on Sunday afternoon. The top 14 teams will open the first round on May 1-2, while the 15-18 seeds will compete in a play-in game on May 28. Last  season, the Falcons were tri-champions of the conference and were seeded #5, but got  eliminated in the first round.

In the win over the Seahawks, freshman Travis Bonner (Cabrillo HS) and sophomore George Mendoza (Bell Gardens HS) combined to post the shutout. They scattered seven hits and recorded seven strikeouts, as Bonner (2-2) earned the win, with Mendoza collecting his fifth save. It was the fifth shutout of the season for the Falcon staff.

Cerritos took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but put the game out of reach with a four-run ninth inning. Freshman outfielder Mark Pena (Bell Gardens HS) led off the third with a double and came home when LA Harbor pitcher Biago Schutt threw the ball away on an attempted sacrifce bunt by sophomore outfielder Shane Preston (Deer Creek, OK HS). Sophomore third basebal Victor Guadalupe (La Quinta HS) followed with a run-scoring base hit. In the sixth inning, sophomore first baseman Brett Thompson (Corona del Mar HS/Saddleback College) drove in freshman catcher Gary James (Sunny Hills HS), who led off with a double.

After loading the bases in the top of the ninth inning, Guadalupe drew a walk to force in a run, followed by an RBI single from James. The final two runs came home on wild pitches by Seahawk relief pitchers.