Held without a hit for the first 5 1/3 innings, the Cerritos College baseball team was able to score three times in the sixth inning and went on to a 5-1 win over visiting Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday. The South Coast Conference win was the 11th in a row for the Falcons (20-4, 11-1), who are the first team in the state to reach the 20-win mark this season. It also marks the 56th time in school history a Cerritos team won at least 20 games in a season, while the winning streak matches the 2007 team that won 11 games in a row. Next up for the Falcons will be a three-game series against East Los Angeles College with the first game scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday in Monterey Park.

Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, sophomore shortstop DJ Massey (Gahr HS/Central Arizona College) drew a one-out walk. Freshman catcher Alonso Reyes (Culver City HS) followed with the team's first hit of the game, a roller through the right side of the field. Sophomore first baseman Mike Santos (Servite HS) walked to load the bases, while freshman designated hitter Juan Garcia (Narbonne HS) drove in the first run when he walked on four pitches. That ended the day for Mounties relief pitcher Alejandro Morales, who came on in the fifth inning. Freshman outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) met new pitcher Justin Cardenas with a base hit that went over the outstretched glove of Mt. SAC second baseman Joel Gutierrez to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead. Freshman second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) brought home the third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.

Mt. SAC starting pitcher Kaden Moeller, who had only two innings under his belt this season entering the game, tossed four no-hit innings and struck out seven batters. Cerritos did all their damage against the three Mountie relief pitchers.

Freshman starting pitcher Myles Johnson (Katella HS), who battled through some control issues, gave up one run in the third inning without the Mounties collecting a hit. He walked Joey Rossetti to lead off the inning before uncorking a pair of wild pitches, which advanced him to third base. Rossetti came home on an infield out by Bradyn France. Johnson (5-2), who ended up pitching eight innings, was the beneficiary of several good defensive plays to keep the Falcons close. After giving up a lead-off single in the second inning, he got Andrew Walters to hit into a double play. Johnson walked the next batter, Ty Thomas, who was then thrown out by Reyes trying to steal second base.

Mt. SAC (13-9, 3-6) collected three of their six hits on the day in the sixth inning, but another double play helped Johnson get out of the inning. He finished the day with seven strikeouts, with sophomore Calix Armijo (Mary Star of the Sea HS) coming on in the ninth inning and retired the side in order to end the game.

The Falcons added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning, which started when sophomore outfielder Nico Briones (Long Beach Millikan HS) led off by getting hit by a pitch. Massey then reached base on an error, with a walk to Reyes loading the bases. Santos drove in a pair of runs with a single to round out the scoring.

Photos by Daryl Peterson