For the first time since they played in the state championship game in 1995, the Cerritos College baseball team has advanced past the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. After eliminating Riverside City College on Thursday, the Falcons defeated South Coast Conference rival Long Beach City twice and have advanced to the Regional Finals, which will be a three-game series played at Kincaid Field next Friday through Sunday. Cerritos ended the season for the Vikings (30-15) with a 7-4 win on Saturday. The top-seeded Falcons (37-8) will take on #5-seed Saddleback College.

Cerritos, who served as the visiting team in the game, got off to a quick 2-0 start. However, the Viikings would touch up sophomore starter Franky Lopez (Dominguez HS) for four runs (three earned) on five hits in the bottom of the first inning. Knowing they needed Lopez (11-0) to go as deep into the game as possible, he delivered by retiring the next 23 batters before hitting a batter and giving up a hit in the ninth inning. Lopez ended up tossing his third complete game of the year and struck out 12, while walking just one.

Head coach Nate Fernley, who made the walk to the mound first inning to talk with Lopez, said, "I told him that we were definitely going to score enough runs to win this game, so as long as he just was himself the rest of the way, we would win this thing. Kid found a way."

A one-out solo home run by sophomore third baseman Anthony Bassett (Colegio Bautista de Managua, Nicaragua/Los Angeles Harbor College) drew the team to within 4-3, while freshman outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) followed with an infield single. He was able to advance to third base when LBCC third baseman Ryan Geck threw the ball wildly to first base, which allowed Rios to get into scoring position. Sophomore first baseman Mike Santos (Servite HS), who drove in the team's first two runs in the top of the first inning, tied the game with an RBI single.

It was Santos (pictured after his home run) who may have had the biggest hit in the game when he opened the fifth inning with a solo home run that put Cerritos in front, 5-4. As the Falcons caught up and pulled ahead, it was Lopez (pictured, left) who continued to shut down the Vikings, striking out five of six batters over the course of the third through fifth innings. After the first inning, Lopez had just one three-ball count against a batter.

Heading into the top of the ninth inning, Cerritos was able to add a pair of insurance runs when freshman catcher Alonso Reyes (Culver City HS) led off the stanza with a base hit. With two outs, Santos dropped a double inside the right field line, which set the table for sophomore pinch-hitter Marco Lopez (Narbonne HS/Vanguard University). He greeted relief pitcher Max Sasaki with a base hit through the right side, which drove in two runs.

Santos finished the game going 4-for-4 with a walk, four RBI and scored a pair of runs. Reyes had another stellar game at the plate by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, with Bassett (2-for-4, walk, RBI, two runs) and Rios (2-for-5) each recording multiple-hit games.

Photos by Daryl Peterson