On Saturday at Palomar College, the Cerritos College baseball team scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning to pull out a 6-5 non-conference win. The win by the Falcons (6-2) was their second straight one-run victory, which also saw sophomore closer Jerald Johnston (California HS) record his second straight two-inning save. Cerritos will now host Golden West College at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Entering the eighth inning, Cerritos was trailing 5-2. Sophomore catcher Gary James (Sunny Hills HS) opened the stanza by drawing a walk and then scored on an RBI double by sophomore shortstop Daniel Lopez (Montebello HS), who advanced to third on a throwing error. After freshman second baseman Derrick Edwards (Mary Star of the Sea HS) drew a walk, sophomore first baseman Mike Heenan (JSerra HS) drove in Lopez with a base hit. Freshman designated hitter Kevin Sainz (Valley Christian HS) successfully advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, which set up an RBI ground out by freshman third baseman Jonathan Avila (Carson HS), which tied the game.

The Falcons took the lead after sophomore outfielder Mark Pena (Bell Gardens HS) drew a walk. It set the table for sophomore outfielder Kenton McDonald (Long Beach Poly HS), who drove home Heenan with a sacrifice fly.

Johnston took over for winning pitcher Sean Kinnicutt (Warren HS) in the bottom of the eighth inning after allowing a leadoff single. Johnston struck out the next two batters and then recorded the final out on a fielder's choice. In the ninth inning, he struck out the final two batters for his third save of the season.

Freshman Carlos Hernandez (Pioneer HS) started his first game of the season and lasted into the third inning after allowing three runs on four hits. Sophomore Travis Bonner (Cabrillo HS) tossed 3 1/3 innings and surrendered two runs on three hits.

At the plate, Lopez went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and clubbed his second home run of the season. Heenan also posted a pair of hits, while Pena extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a leadoff single in the top of the third inning.