Sophomore pitcher Kayla Klein (La Habra HS/Texas A&M University) was one batter away from tossing a perfect game, but had to settle for a five-inning no-hitter, as the Cerritos College softball team defeated ECC Compton Center, 18-0 in a South Coast Conference game at Nancy Kelly Field on Thursday. The win improved the Falcons record to 27-10 overall and 17-3 in SCC play, and they will now host Cypress College at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday in a non-conference game.

Entering the top of the fifth inning Klein (10-4) had retired the first  12 batters and with two outs, she looked to complete the perfect game. However, a fielding error on a slow roller to freshman Danah Vasquez (Santa Fe HS) was mishandled and after Klein recorded the final out of the game settled for a no-hitter with seven strikeouts.

At the plate, the Falcons scored seven runs in the first inning and added nine more in the second inning to put only the final score as the undetermined outcome. The duo of sophomore outfielder Aubrey Formano (St. Paul HS/Fullerton College) and sophomore shortstop Ashley Miller (West Torrance HS/North Platte, NE CC) each collected three hits, with Cerritos recording 19 on the day. Both freshman designated player Jamie Ramirez (El Rancho HS) and sophomore first baseman Julia Mendoza (Los Altos HS) had two hits and drove in three runs, as every Falcon who recorded an at-bat collected at least one hit. Freshman outfielder Arianna Hernandez (Santa Fe HS) and freshman third baseman Ariana Mejia (Gahr HS) both scored three runs in the win.

Photo by Daryl Peterson