For the second season in a row, the Cerritos College baseball team took Fresno City College to extra innings, but came up short for the second time. On Tuesday night, the Falcons opened a 2-0 lead, but ended up dropping a 3-2 decision in 12 innings. The team will continue their trip to Santa Maria by taking on Merced College at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Cerritos jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when freshman first baseman Ryan Skjonsby (Long Beach Poly HS) led off with a walk with freshman outfielder Nico Briones (Long Beach Millikan HS) getting hit by a pitch. After a double play advanced Skjonsby to third base, sophomore third baseman Carlos Vega (Mary Star of the Sea HS/Los Angeles Harbor College) reached on a fielding error, which plated Skjonsby.

It was a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning after sophomore outfielder Jason Givens (Santa Fe HS) led off with a base hit, followed by Vega drawing a walk. Freshman AJ Gonzalez (Torrance HS) advanced the runners before sophomore catcher Daniel Castellanos (Gahr HS) drove in the second run of the game.

Sophomore starting pitcher JJ Almeda (Warren HS) had limited the Rams to just one hit and struck out four batters through the first four innings. Fresno City tied the game in the fifth inning, with one of the runs coming due to an error. Sophomore Elias Torres (Long Beach Poly HS) came on in the seventh inning and didn't allow a run in his 1 1/3 innings of work.

With one out in the eighth inning, sophomore Steven Salazar (Sonora HS) came on in relief and did a masterful job. He retired the first 10 batters he faced, but a one-out walk in the bottom of the 12th inning led to a game-winning double.

In the top of the 12th inning, Cerritos had a chance to break the tie after sophomore shortstop Julian Francois (Serra HS) walked and Ormonde slapped out a base hit. The two advanced a base on a wild pitch, and after Skjonsby was intentionally walked, Briones flew out to end the inning.