Appearing to be in a tight pitching duel, a defensive error changed the momentum of the game, and the Cerritos College baseball team went on to suffer a 10-6 South Coast Conference loss to Mt. San Antonio College on Tuesday. Twelve of the game's 16 runs were scored in the seventh and eighth innings. The two teams will meet up in Walnut on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in the second of their three-game series.

Freshman pitcher Steven Salazar (Sonora HS) was having another strong start on the mound and limited the Mounties (17-6, 7-3) to three hits through the first 3 2/3 innings. He appeared to get out of the inning unscathed, but after surrendering a two-out single, a fly ball was dropped in the outfield, while a second error on the next batter led to three unearned runs in the stanza.

The Falcons (8-15-1, 4-9) had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a pair of Mt. SAC defensive miscues. After freshman outfielder Julian Francois (Serra HS) reached base on a fielding error, freshman second baseman Andy Vega (Mary Star of the Sea HS) followed with a base hit. A dropped toss to first base on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore designated hitter Alex Bueno (Centennial, NV HS) loaded the bases. The first out was recorded on a force play at the plate, which was followed by a run-scoring sacrifice fly from freshman outfielder Lucas Iorgulescu (Marina HS).

Still trailing 3-1 through the sixth inning, Cerritos left runners in scoring position in both the third and fourth innings.

Salazar (1-4), who retired eight straight batters after allowing a two-run single in the fourth inning, surrendered four consecutive singles in the seventh inning, which resulted in a pair of Mt. SAC runs. Freshman relief pitcher J'amore' Ward (Gahr HS) came on and gave up a walk and two-run single before getting out of the seventh inning, He was then touched up for three more runs in the eight inning.

Cerritos worked on making a comeback, which started in the seventh inning on a lead-off home run from freshman third baseman Mike Santos (Servite HS). In the eighth inning, Bueno led off with a walk, while freshman first baseman Dean Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) followed with a single. After the first out was recorded, consecutive walks to freshman catcher Daniel Mariscal, Jr. (Long Bech Poly HS) and Santos resulted in a run scoring. Sophomore outfielder Hasan Standifer (San Pedro HS/Jackson State University) then stepped up and laced a two-run double, while freshman pinch-hitter Moses Dokes (Santa Barbara HS) added an RBI single to get the team to within 10-6, which would be as close as they'd get.

Bueno reached base three times on the day, while Vega had a pair of hits. Seven different players collected at least one hit for the Falcons.

Photos by Daryl Peterson