With their 5-3 win over visiting Los Angeles Mission College on Wednesday, the Cerritos College completed a home-and-home sweep in their non-conference series. The Falcons (24-5), winners of 15 of their last 16 games, will host Taft College at 1:00 p.m. in another non-conference game on Friday.

Cerritos opened a 4-0 lead over the Eagles (10-17), with sophomore starting pitcher Franky Lopez (Dominguez HS) mowing through the batters the first six innings.

In the bottom of the third inning, freshman catcher Ryan Reyes (Los Alamitos HS) led off with a single and advanced to second base after sophomore shortstop DJ Massey (Gahr HS/Central Arizona College) beat out a bunt for a single. Freshman third baseman Alonso Reyes (Culver City HS) was hit by a pitch to load the bases for sophomore Mike Santos (Servite HS), who drove in a run on a fielder's choice. The bases were loaded once again after freshman outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) was hit by a pitch, with the second run coming home on a sacrifice fly by freshman second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS).

A leadoff double in the fourth inning by freshman outfielder Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) ended up being the team's third run when Ryan Reyes eventually drove him in on a sacrifice fly. It was a leadoff double by Santos in the fifth inning that set the table for the fourth run, as he scored on a single by Immel.

Lopez (7-0), who limited LA Mission to just one hit through the first six innings, gave up a pair of hits in the seventh inning, but got out without any damage after Josh Sotelo was thrown out at the plate after trying to score on a fielder's choice and infield error. In the eighth, the Eagles got to Lopez, as they registered hits in four of five plate appearances. A pair of runs came home on a single by Jake Callahan, with the third run of the inning coming in on a sacrifice bunt.

The Falcons were able to add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning without the benefit of a hit. Sophomore outfielder Marlon Oviedo (Colegio Parroquial San Rafael N#1, Nicaragua/Los Angeles Harbor College), who came on in the top of the inning as a defensive replacement, led off by getting hit by a pitch. On a sacrifice bunt by sophomore outfielder Nico Briones (Long Beach Millikan HS), an observant Oviedo was able to advance to third base when there was nobody covering the bag. He then came home on a wild pitch.

Sophomore Calix Armijo (Mary Star of the Sea HS) earned his sixth save of the season after pitching the ninth inning. He did walk two batters, but got Barry Menjivar to foul out for the final out.

Photos by Daryl Peterson