In their first of three games against Mt. San Antonio College, the Cerritos College baseball team was defeated, 12-1 on Tuesday at Kincaid Field. The teams will play the second game of their series at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at Mazmanian Field and then the final game at noon on Saturday at home.

It was a scoreless game until the Mounties (7-10, 2-2) put seven runs on the board in the top of the third inning. They benefitted from a pair of Falcon errors, two walks and a balk with the bases loaded. In the inning, Mt. SAC collected just four hits off starting pitcher Jacob Carter (Cerritos HS) and sophomore relief pitcher Adrian Ramirez (Santiago HS).

Cerritos (9-7, 2-2) had a chance to carve into that lead in the bottom of the stanza when freshman designated hitter Emiliano Estrada (Long Beach Poly HS) reached base on an error and sophomore outfielder Mark Pena (Bell Gardens HS) extended his school record hitting streak 28 games with a base hit up the middle. The bases were loaded with two outs when sophomore shortstop Daniel Lopez (Montebello HS) was hit by a pitch. But sophomore catcher Gary James (Sunny Hills HS) struck out looking to end the inning.

They didn't get on the board until the eighth inning after James doubled with two outs, with sophomore outfielder Fermin Beza (California HS/William Jessup University) getting hit by a pitch. Freshman second baseman Derrick Edwards (Mary Star of the Sea HS) drove home James with a single, while both runners advanced a base on a throwing error. The threat came to an end when sophomore first baseman Mike Heenan (JSerra HS) flew out for the third out.

Photos by Daryl Peterson