Baseball: Early runs too much for Falcons to recover

Owen Beebe picked up a hit in his third straight game against Santa Ana
Owen Beebe picked up a hit in his third straight game against Santa Ana

After the first two innings in their non-conference game at Kincaid Field on Saturday, the Cerritos College baseball team was trailing, 10-0. The Falcons (7-4) played visting Santa Ana College even the rest of the way, but dropped a 13-3 decision for their fourth loss in a row. The team will open South Coast Conference play on Tuesday at 2:00p.m. when they host East Los Angeles College.

Although they were trailing by such a large margin, Cerritos was able to get baserunners, but couldn't move them around to score. In the first inning, sophomore outfielder Buck Anderson (Lakewood HS/Cal State Bakersfield) led off with a walk, stole second base and moved to third on an infield single. When sophomore shortstop Alex Bueno (Centennial, NV HS) struck out and the ball got away, Santa Ana (10-1) catcher James Williams was forced to throw to first base to record the out. On the play, Anderson took off for home, but was thrown out.

The Falcons finally pushed a run across in the fourth inning, as freshman designated hitter David Hays (St. John Bosco HS) singled with one out and moved to second base on a walk to sophomore outfielder Bodie Parker (Cajon HS/Chaffey College). The bases were loaded after a Nick Martinez (La Serna HS) single up the middle. Sophomore outfielder Shea Estrin (West HS) drew a run-scoring walk, but sophomore catcher Owen Beebe (Long Beach Millikan HS/Golden West College) lined a shot back to Santa Ana pitcher Cole Samuels, who doubled up Estrin at first base to end the inning.

Anderson led off the fifth inning with a triple and scored on an infield out by freshman second baseman Andres Vega (Mary Star of the Sea HS) for the team's second run. Hays led off the sixth inning with a double to deep center field and came home after the throw to first base on an infield single by Martinez was wild, which allowed Hays to score.

Freshman relief pitcher Adam Chavez (El Rancho HS) did a fine job in his 4 1/3 innings of work, as he allowed just two runs (one earned) on three hits, while striking out five batters. Freshman Aurelio Colon (Verdugo Hills HS) and Matthew Garcia (Santa Fe HS) each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Martinez was 3-for-3 at the plate, while Hays collected two hits and scored twice.

Photos by Daryl Peterson