Entering the Southern California Regional Playoffs with one of the more potent offenses in the state, the Cerritos College softball team suffered their third shutout of the season, as host San Diego Mesa College posted a 3-0 win on Saturday. The Falcons (29-11), seeded #10 in the playoffs, must now beat the #7-seeded Olympians (31-8) twice on Sunday in order to advance to next weekend's Super Regional. The second game of the series is scheduled for noon, while a 2:00 p.m. winner-take-all game will be played if necessary.

Normally a very patient team at the plate, the Falcons recorded 16 fly ball outs and didn't draw any walks. Cerritos was limited to a pair of singles each by freshman designated player Jamie Ramirez (El Rancho HS) and freshman third baseman Ariana Mejia (Gahr HS), while they were unable to advance any runners into scoring position against winning pitcher Laura Nelson (21-7).

For the Olympians, they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, which was kept alive when sophomore catcher Katie Caraballo (El Rancho HS/Fullerton College) dropped a third strike and then threw the ball away. Both runs scored with two outs, while San Diego Mesa added n insurance run off sophomore pitcher Kayla Klein (La Habra HS/Texas A&M University) in the fourth inning.

Photo by Daryl Peterson