Less than two days after putting 22 runs on the board, the Cerritos College baseball team needed eight innings before scoring their first run on Saturday in a 6-2 South Coast Conference loss to Compton College. The Falcons (6-21, 5-12) will now start a three-game series with rival Long Beach City College, with the first game slated for 2:30 p.m. at Joe Hicks Field in Long Beach on Tuesday.

Tartars (7-23, 4-12) starting pitcher Andy Rosales didn't allow a hit until a leadoff single by freshman shortstop Alejandro Bueno (Centennial, NV HS) in the bottom of the fourth inning. It wasn't until a one-out double by freshman outfielder Shea Estrin (West Torrance HS) did Cerritos put their first runner in scoring position. In the seventh inning, they had runners on first and third base with two outs, but freshman third baseman Matt Den Hartog (Los Alamitos HS) was called out at first base on a close play after his ground ball to third base.

Cerritos starting pitcher Joshua Jorgensen (Lakewood HS/East Los Angeles College) was locked in a pitcher's dual with Rosales for the first five innings, until Compton put two runs in the board in the sixth. The bases were loaded after a pair of infield singles and a walk to start the inning, with the first run coming home when Jorgensen hit Nick Redick. A base hit by Anthony Reyes drove in the second run and ended the day for Jorgensen.

It was a 4-2 game heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, after Compton added an unearned run in the top of the stanza. With two outs, freshman outfielder Wyatt Hall (Long Beach Millikan HS) laced a double and then came home on a base hit up the middle by Bueno. A single by sophomore first baseman Michael Gonzalez (St. Bernard HS) put runners at first and third base, which ended the day for Rosales. Facing relief pitcher Michael Fletcher, sophomore outfielder Cody Ahrens (Mayfair HS/Hope International University) bounced a ball over the pitcher's mound and beat the throw by Fletcher, which drove in a run and put runners on second and third base after the throw went wild. A popup by sophomore catcher Andre Alvarez (Walnut HS) ended the threat.

Bueno and Ahrens each went 2-for-4, while Alvarez drew a pair of walks to reach base twice.

Photos by Daryl Peterson