The Cerritos College softball team handily won their four games at the Ventura Tournament over the weekend, as the team concluded their 11-game road trip with a 9-2 record. South Coast Conference play returns for the Falcons (24-7, 13-1), who lead both Mt. San Antonio College and East Los Angeles College by two games with seven games to be played. On Tuesday, Cerritos will be hosting the Mounties and are looking to sweep the season series.

While at the tournament, the Falcons defeated Antelope Valley College (8-4) and the host Pirates (10-4) on the first day and followed that with wins over Glendale College (7-5) and Allan Hancock College (8-0), with both of those games lasting five innings.

Cerritos vs. Antelope Valley: The Falcons built up a 7-1 lead, thanks to come clutch two-out hitting, before settling on the win. In the first inning, sophomore third baseman Ariana Mejia (Gahr HS) doubled in a run, while sophomore first baseman Haley Whitney (Warren HS) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Freshman catcher Krystal Purkey (Gahr HS) added a two-out RBI single in the first inning, with sophomore outfielder Arianna Hernandez (Santa Fe HS) drawing a bases loaded walk before Mejia picked up her second RBI. Hernandez, who went 2-for-2 with a walk, doubled in a par of runs in the third and drove in the final run in the fifth to finish with four RBI in the game. Sophomore pitcher Jamie Ramirez (El Rancho HS) pitched the first four innings to earn the win.

Cerritos vs. Ventura: Although she allowed four runs in the bottom of the third inning, sophomore pitcher Kat Flores (El Rancho HS) regrouped and pitched a complete game. The offense came through in the top of the fourth after the Pirates scored four times in the third. Sophomore shortstop Stephanie Olivas (Warren HS) led off with a triple, with sophomore outfielder Danah Vasquez (Santa Fe HS) driving a ball down the right field line for a triple. Freshman second baseman Monique Ramirez (Torrance HS) doubled in Vasquez, while Ramirez eventually scored on an infield out by Mejia. Cerritos took the lead in the fifth inning when freshman outfielder Joanna Perruccio (Torrance HS) singled in freshman pinch-runner Roxanna Jensen (Havre, MT HS), while Hernandez followed with a two-run single. Whitney closed out the scoring with a two-run double in the seventh inning.

Cerritos vs. Glendale: Taking on the team they opened the season with, the Falcons were tested after taking an early 5-0 lead. The Vaqueros got to within 6-5, as they scored those run in the second and third inning against Flores and Jamie Ramirez, who eventually got the win. The game was called with Cerritos batting in the bottom of the fifth inning due to the time limit rule of the tournament. The Falcons were on their way to busting the game open, but none of those stats count because the inning was not finished. Perruccio clubbed a two-out, two-run home run in the second inning, with Hernandez following with a solo round-tripper. The run support continued, as Mejia doubled and Whitney singled before Jamie Ramirez doubled in one of the runs and added another in the fourth inning.

Cerritos vs. Allan Hancock: Cerritos closed out the tournament with a mercy rule win over the Bulldogs, as Monique Ramirez doubled in two runs in a six-run second inning and ended the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the second inning, the Falcons collected six of their 11 hits, with Hernandez, Mejia and Olivas all driving in a run. Flores allowed just two hits over the five innings and struck out six batters in the game.