On Saturday, the Cerritos College baseball team made the most of their four hits and combined that with stellar pitching to lead them to a 4-1 win over Los Angeles Valley College at Kincaid Field. The win was the fifth in a row for the Falcons (5-1), who were crowned the champions of the SoCal Challenge. Weather permitting, the team will travel to Bakersfield College for a three-game series on Thursday through Saturday against the Renegades.

Freshman starting pitcher Derek Valdez (Los Alamitos HS) shut out the Monarchs through the first seven innings to earn the win on the mound. He scattered two hits against Los Angeles Valley, who came into the game hitting over .400 as a team. He allowed a two-out single in the first innng, and after a leadoff walk in the second inning, retired 15 of the next 16 batters until a leadoff single in the seventh inning. A double play cut down the runner before he ended his day by striking out Casey Skett looking, which was his fifth strikeout.

Sophomore Calix Armijo (Mary Star of the Sea) tossed the final two innings, with LA Valley pushing across an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning with two outs. The run ended a streak of Cerritos pitchers shutting out opponents over 30 innings. The win also lowered the team's overall ERA to a minuscule 1.17 through the first six games.

Cerritos scored all the runs they would need in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore outfielder Nico Briones (Long Beach Millikan HS) led off the inning by reaching on a fielding error, and advanced to third base on a single by sophomore catcher Alonso Reyes (Culver City HS), who moved to second base on the throw to third. Briones when came home in a passed ball, with the second run coming home on a double play.

The score remained the same until the Falcons pushed across a single run in the sixth inning. Freshman first baseman Juan Garcia (Narbonne HS) led off with a double and raced home on a two-out single from freshman second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS). They were able to manufacture their fourth run in the seventh inning without the benefit of a hit. Sophomore outfielder Marlon Oviedo (Colegio Parroquial San Rafael N#1/Nicaragua/Los Angeles Harbor College) reached first base on a throwing error to lead off the inning. Briones was then hit by a pitch, and with two outs, sophomore designated hitter Marco Lopez (Narbonne HS/Vanguard University).

On the play, the ball skipped past Monarchs catcher Jackson Frankovich, with Oviedo racing around the bases to score. The Falcons recorded just four hits, but found ways to cash in on their opportunities, which led them to the win.

Photos by Daryl Peterson