After opening a comfortable 7-0 lead against El Camino College after the first five innings, the Cerritos College baseball team found themselves in a late-inning 7-7 battle. The Falcons were able to push across the eventual game-winning run in the seventh inning and went on to an 8-7 South Coast Conference victory. They will look for the series sweep at noon on Saturday in Torrance.

Cerritos starting pitcher Noah Andrunas (Gahr HS/UC Riverside) was gifted a 7-0 lead and after he surrendered three runs (all unearned) in the sixth inning, left with a lead. However, the Falcons bullpen struggled to throw strikes, as they walked five batters and hit two more, which allowed the Warriors to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.

Facing new El Camino relief pitcher Kona Agena, sophomore outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) led off with a walk and advanced to second base on a single from sophomore second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS). With freshman third baseman Mateo Heredia (El Segundo HS) at the plate, a pitch got away from Warriors catcher Gio Crow, with Rios taking off for third base. A close play at the bag was ruled to be an out, but the inning stayed alive when Heredia walked and sophomore catcher Nate Gardenswartz (Long Beach Wilson HS) loaded the bases with an infield single. Freshman shortstop Jake Fowler (Los Alamitos HS) faced new pitcher Slater Nunez and drew a walk, which forced in what would be the game-winning run.

Freshman relief pitcher AJ Gonzalez (Gahr HS) was in his second inning of work and allowed a leadoff walk and a one-out single in the top of the ninth inning, which brought in Fowler from his shortstop position to record the final two outs. He got both Daniel Craig and Lucas Bonham to fly out and earned his third save of the season.

At the plate, the Falcons took advantage of eight El Camino walks, with three of them coming around to score. In their five-run fifth inning, consecutive walks to sophomore outfielders Evan Saito (Torrance HS) and Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) were followed by an infield single from freshman designated hitter Brody Cuellar (Bishop Montgomery HS) to load the bases. A two-run double by freshman first baseman Wyatt Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) was followed by an RBI single from Rios. Immel, who went 3-for-4 with a walk, singled home two more runs, which made it a 7-0 game.

Cuellar (2-for-5), Rios (2-for-3, walk, two runs, RBI) and Gardenswartz (2-for-4) also had a pair of hits for the Falcons on the day.

Photos by Daryl Peterson