Facing a team that came into the game with a team batting average of .337 and 11 runs a game, a quartet of Cerritos College pitchers tossed a five-hit shutout in a 6-0 win over College of the Desert on Thursday. The Falcons (4-6) will travel to Los Angeles Pierce College tomorrow for a 1:30 p.m. game.

Freshman starting pitcher Franky Lopez (Dominguez HS) tossed the first five innings and limited the Roadrunners (9-2) to just two hits, although he had to work out of jams in three innings. A pair of defensive miscues put runners on first and second base in the third inning, while a pair of two-out walks put runners on base in the fourth inning. Lopez (2-0) worked out of both of those innings, while he capped off his outing getting Jason Leon to hit into a double play to end a Desert threat.

Offensively, the Falcons (4-6) got on the board in the bottom of the second inning when sophomore third baseman Carlos Vega (Mary Star of the Sea HS/Los Angeles Harbor College) led of with a walk, followed by freshman outfielder Miles Hughes (Carson HS) getting hit by a pitch. An infield out advanced the runners for freshman catcher Conner Sullivan (Palos Verdes HS), who drove in the first run with another infield ground out. Sophomore shortstop Julian Francois (Serra HS) followed with an RBI double for the second run of the inning. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, sophomore first baseman Daniel Mariscal (Long Beach Poly HS) made it a 3-0 game with a leadoff home run.

The Falcons closed out the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Francois led of with his third hit of the game. After a walk to sophomore second baseman Andy Vega (Mary Star of the Sea HS), Francois stole his state-leading 10th base of the season. Freshman outfielder Nico Briones (Long Beach Millikan HS) drove in a run with a base hit, while Carlos Vega pushed another run across the plate on a fielder's choice.

After Lopez came out of the game, sophomore Carter Stoddard (Sunny Hills HS) pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning, with sophomore JJ Almeda (Warren HS) accounting for the next two innings and surrendered a pair of hits. In the ninth inning, sophomore Steven Salazar (Sonora HS) allowed a lead-off single, but then shut down the next three batters to end the game.

Photos by Daryl Peterson