Riding the arm of sophomore All-American pitcher Derek Valdez (Los Alamitos HS), the Cerritos College baseball team was able to secure one win in their series against Long Beach City College on Saturday. The Falcons, who lost late leads in their first two games of the series, saw Valdez (8-0) toss a complete game in a 5-1 victory. The win improved the team's record to 18-4 overall and 7-2, while Valdez became the first pitcher in the state to win their eighth game of the year.

Cerritos will play three non-conference games next week, which starts with a 2:00 p.m. game on Tuesday at Chaffey College.

After spotting the Vikings (13-9, 8-4) a 1-0 after the first inning, the Falcons responded with a single run in the top of the second inning. Freshman first baseman Wyatt Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) reached base on an error to start the inning, stole second base, advance to third on an infield out and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman third baseman Mateo Heredia (El Segundo HS).

They added three more runs in the fourth inning to cushion the lead for Valdez. Freshman designated hitter Brody Cuellar (Bishop Montgomery HS) led off with a double, and when sophomore second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) and Heredia were hit by pitches, the Falcons had the bases loaded. Cuellar would score on a wild pitch, while a walk to sophomore catcher Daniel Cuadras (Warren HS/Golden West College) loaded the bases once again. With two outs, freshman outfielder Owen Martin (Narbonne HS) and sophomore outfielder Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) each drew RBI walks to make it a 4-1 lead.

Valdez, who struck out six batters on the day, spread out five hits over the course of the game, with two of those hits coming in the ninth inning, as Long Beach City ended the day with the bases loaded.

At the plate, the Falcons drew eight walks, while two of the runs scored on wild pitches against the Vikings pitchers. Orozco added to his state-leading walk total with two more and now has 36 on the season.