Playing their final regular season game of the year at Nancy Kelly Field, the Cerritos College softball team was defeated by Santiago Canyon College, 6-2 in a non-conference game on Saturday. The setback drops the team's overall record to 23-15 with two more games left on their schedule. On Tuesday, the Falcons will play a critical game at Mt. San Antonio College with a chance to tie the Mounties for second place in the South Coast Conference. They will then travel to Palomar College for a non-conference game on Wednesday.

In the loss to the Hawks, Cerritos found themselves down 6-0 after surrendering four runs in the second inning and a pair of solo home runs in the fifth inning. Sophomore pitcher Ana Pedroza (La Mirada HS/Caldwell (NJ) College) suffered the loss on the day.

Cerritos had a couple of chances to get on the scoreboard, but left runners on base. They stranded runners at first and second base in the second inning and the bases loaded in the fourth inning. After freshman Jennifer Navarro (Warren HS) drew a one-out walk, sophomore outfielder Joanna Perruccio (Long Beach Wilson HS) and freshman outfielder Jasmine Javier (Cerritos HS) each singled to load the bases. Freshman Raquel Norzagary (Pioneer HS) hit into a fielder's choice with the second out at the plate and sophomore second baseman Monique Ramirez (Torrance HS) flew out to end the threat.

Sophomore third baseman Crystal Cano (Norwalk HS/Lynn (FL) University) hit her 13th home run of the season in the fifth inning to get the team on the board, while a two-out single by Ramirez brought in the second run. Navarro, Perruccio and Javier all drew walks to start the sixth inning, but a double play halted any chances of a big inning.

Photos by Daryl Peterson