A pair of Cerritos College baseball players have signed National Letters of Intent prior to the upcoming Major League Baseball draft. Sophomore shortstop Daniel Lopez (Montebello HS) and sophomore closer Jerald Johnston (California HS) have made their decisions on where to continue their playing career. Lopez, a 1st Team All-South Coast Conference pick, as signed with the University of Portland, while Johnston, another 1st Team selection, will be playing at Oklahoma Wesleyan University next season.

On the year, Lopez batted .349 with a team-high 16 doubles, five home runs and 41 runs, while his batting average and 58 hits were the second most on the team. He also drove in 27 runs. Lopez had a pair of four-hit games, as well as four three-hit games on the season. Over the final 15 games of the year, Lopez batted 28-for-69 (.406) with 17 RBI and three home runs. Lopez was a third-year sophomore after an injury ended his season just seven games into the campaign. In his freshman season, he batted .295 with 21 RBI.

As for Johnston (pictured, left), he went 4-2 with a team-high seven saves in 39.1 innings, while appearing in a team-high 27 games. He posted 27 strikeouts and a stellar 2.06 ERA, while limiting opponents to a .235 batting average. Johnston finishes his Falcon career with 13 saves abd a 2.14 ERA in 43 apearances and 59 innings.

Lopez joins a Pilots team that went 17-37 last season and struggled to a 3-24 record in the West Coast Conference. He will look to add stability to the middle infield and has a solid chance of cracking the starting lineup. As for Johnston, he will add to the pitching staff of the Eagles that went 40-22 and reached the semifinals of the NCCCAA Regionals.