Taking a break from South Coast Conference play, the Cerritos College baseball team started a home-and-home series on the road against Los Angeles Mission College on Tuesday. The Falcons came away with a 9-4 win and will host LA Mission at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. It was the first meeting between the two schools since a 3-2 Eagles win back in 1993.

The Falcons (23-5) opened an 8-0 lead through the first three innings and rode that early offense to victory. LA Mission would counter with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but that would be all they could get through the remainder of the game.

In the top of the first inning, sophomore shortstop DJ Massey (Gahr HS/Central Arizona College) led off with a single, moved to second base on a walk to freshman catcher Alonso Reyes (Culver City HS) and then scored on a single from sophomore first baseman Mike Santos (Servite HS). With Reyes on third base, sophomore designated hitter Lucas Iorgulescu (Marina HS) drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly. An infield groundout by sophomore outfielder Nico Briones (Long Beach Millikan HS) drove in freshman outfielder Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) from third base after he led off with a walk, moved to second base on the throw and was on third base after a balk.

Cerritos extended their lead to 8-0 with five runs in the top of the third inning. Freshman outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) led off with a single, moved to second base on a walk and then to third when freshman second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) slapped a single. Sophomore third baseman Anthony Bassett (Colegio Bautista de Managua, Nicaragua/Los Angeles Harbor College) got the scoring started in the stanza with a single, while Briones added an RBI single. With the bases loaded, Bassett was able to score on a wild pitch before a sacrifice fly by Reyes drove in another run. Santos capped off the scoring with an RBI single.

Freshman starting pitcher Derek Valdez (Los Alamitos HS) was the recipient of the offense and cruised through the first three innings. He was touched up for four runs on five hits in the fourth inning and escaped a bases loaded situation in the sixth inning when he struck out both Adrian Santiago and Noah Nichols to end the inning.

Sophomore relief pitcher Cade Sonoqui (Long Beach Millikan HS) came on in the seventh inning and retired five of the first six batters he faced. A pair of singles put runners and first and second base, but Sonoqui struck out pinch-hitter Juan Martinez looking to end the inning. Valdez (8-0) earned the win, while Sonoqui, who struck out four batters, picked up his second save of the season with three quality innings of work.

The Falcons added to their run total in the ninth inning when Briones was hit by a pitch to lead off the stanza before moving to second base on a single by Massey. Reyes drove home Briones with a single and after Massey was picked off, Santos reached on an error, which put runners and second and third base.

Massey (two runs, two stolen bases), Reyes (two RBI), Santos (two RBI) and Rios all had two hits for Cerritos.