Thanks to a five-run fourth inning, the Cerritos College baseball team took a 1-0 series lead over Grossmont College on Saturday with a 5-3 victory. The Falcons (24-13), seeded #12 for the Southern California Regional Playoffs, will look to close out the #5-seeded Griffins (27-10) when they face each other at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Trailing 2-0 heading into the fourth inning, sophomore outfielder Fermin Beza (California HS/William Jessup University) led off with a walk and moved to second base on a single by freshman second baseman Derrick Edwards (Mary Star of the Sea HS). A successful sacrifice bunt by sophomore outfielder Kenton McDonald (Long Beach Poly HS) advanced both runners. A sacrifice squeeze bunt by freshman third baseman Kevin Sainz (Valley Christian HS) scored Beza, while freshman designated hitter Eric Hefner (El Dorado HS) bunted home the second run with an infield single.

A single by sophomore shortstop Daniel Lopez (Montebello HS) kept the inning going, which set the table for sophomore first baseman Mike Heenan (JSerra HS), whose single plated Hefner. Sophomore outfielder Mark Pena (Bell Gardens HS) drove in the fourth run with a double, while a wild pitch brought Heenan home with the fifth run.

Sophomore Travis Bonner (Cabrillo HS), making his second start of the season, lasted the first 5 2/3 innings to earn the win. He surrendered a single run in the first inning and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning. After the Falcons took the lead in the fourth inning, he set down Grossmont in order in the bottom of the stanza and allowed a walk in the fifth. A hit batter and one-out triple put the game at 5-3 and after Bonner struck out Sean Crosby, he was replaced by freshman Carlos Hernandez (Pioneer HS).

A shaky seventh inning by Hernandez, where he allowed a double and a walk, resulted in sophomore closer Jerald Johnston (California HS) coming on in relief. He got out of the inning, set down the Griffins in the eighth inning and then earned his seventh save with a ninth inning that was aided by a double play. The 2 2/3 innings of work was his second longest of the season for Johnston.

Pena led the team with a 3-for-5 day, while Heenan had a pair of hits.