Just two days ago, the Cerritos College softball team was primed to move into a tie for first place in the South Coast Conference. But consecutive one-run losses have dropped the Falcons (22-14, 13-6) into third place with two conference games remaining. On Tuesday, the team suffered an 8-7 loss to first place El Camino College and followed that with a 4-3 setback at East Los Angeles College in a game that was completed when their March 12 game was protested by Cerritos. On Thursday, the team will travel to Los Angeles Harbor College for a 3:00 p.m. contest.

At the time of the protest, the Falcons were trailing 2-1 in the top of the fifth inning. The team was able tie the game by the end of the stanza, but were victimized by an error in the bottom of the sixth inning that opened the door for two Huskies runs. With two outs, sophomore Crystal Cano (Norwalk HS/Lynn (FL) University) dropped a throw that would have been the third out of the inning. That play was followed by a walk, while consecutive hits off freshman pitcher Jessica Navarro (Warren HS) led to two runs.

But in the seventh inning, the patient Falcons were able to load the bases. Freshman outfielder Jasmine Javier (Cerritos HS) led off with a single, while sophomore Haley Petruccelli (Torrance HS) drew a walk. Sophomore Monique Ramirez (Torrance HS) advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, sophomore Joanna Perruccio (Long Beach Wilson HS) loaded the bases with a walk, while freshman Jenny Collazo (Paramount HS) got the team to within 4-3 with a run-scoring walk. That set the table for Cano, the team leader in home runs (12) and RBI (53). But she flew out deep to center field for the final out.