On Saturday, the Cerritos College softball team saw their season come to an end, as they dropped a pair of games at Cypress College. The #5-seeded Falcons (31-14) dropped a 4-0 decision to the host Chargers in the championship semifinals and were then defeated by #4-seeded Palomar College, 6-1, which eliminated them from the Super Regional. It marked the third time in the last four seasons Cerritos won over 30 games and ninth time under head coach Kodee Murray.

Cerritos vs. Cypress: Taking on the top-seeded Chargers, the team surrendered single runs in the second and third innings, while they saw their opponents post a pair of runs in the fifth inning to secure the win. The Falcons struggled to generate any offense, and when they did in the fifth inning, a baserunning error ended their threat. Freshman first baseman Kylee Brown (Mayfair HS) led off the fifth with a single and moved to second base on an infield single by sophomore catcher Jesseca Martinez (Lakewood HS). Sophomore outfielder Jezeree Misaalefua (Carson HS/Long Beach CC) loaded the bases with one out on a base hit. 

That brought up the South Coast Conference Player of the Year, sophomore second baseman Jenny Collazo (Paramount HS). She lined out to center field, but freshman pinch-runner Ashley Melendez (Magnolia HS) was off an running when the ball was hit and was doubled up at second base to end the threat. Cerritos finished the game with just six hits.

Cerritos vs. Palomar: Facing elimination against the defending state champion Comets, the Falcons allowed a pair of runs in the third, sixth and seventh innings to see their season come to an end. Freshman pitcher Jissel Caballero (Warren HS) made her way through the first two innings until a leadoff single, stolen base and poorly played base hit that turned into a triple, put Palomar on the board. Caballero, who took the loss, set down the next nine batters in a row until consecutive singles in the sixth inning brought on freshman pitcher Kristen Voller (Norco HS), who allowed a two-run single before the inning was up.

At the plate, Cerritos continued to struggle and recorded eight fly ball outs to go along with the 13 they had in the first game. The lone run came in the bottom of the seventh inning when Brown led off with a single and scored on a pair of errors by Palomar shortstop Katy McJunkin, which came on the same play. Caballero finished with two of the team's four hits.

Photos by Daryl Peterson