The Cerritos College softball team scored seven first inning runs and parlayed that into a 13-2, five-inning South Coast Conference win over ECC Compton Center at Nancy Kelly Field on Thursday afternoon. The win was the third in as many days for the Falcons (10-6, 5-1), who will now host Bakersfield College in a non-conference game at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.

Early on, Cerritos jumped on the Tartar pitching, as freshman third baseman Ariana Mejia (Gahr HS) clubbed a three-run home run for an early lead before a trio of players contributed run-scoring hits. Freshman outfielders Haley Whitney (Warren HS) and Arianna Hernandez (Santa Fe HS), along with freshman designated player Jamie Ramirez (El Rancho HS) each drove in runs in the first inning.

It was more of the same in the second inning, as sophomore Julia Mendoza (Los Altos HS) came on for Hernandez and responded with a two-run double, with sophomore outfielder Aubrey Formano (St. Paul HS/Fullerton College) driving in a run with a bases loaded walk and Ramirez adding an RBI single. Freshman catcher Sammie Klein (La Habra HS) came on as a replacement and clubbed her first home run of the year in the third inning, a two-run blast.

Sophomore pitcher Lily Cornejo (Paramount HS) only threw the first inning, with freshman Katherine Flores (El Rancho HS) tossing the final four innings. She struck out six batters, while both runs scored in the fifth inning were unearned.

Photo by Daryl Peterson