On Saturday, the Cerritos College softball team split their two games at Nancy Kelly Field. They opened the day with a 9-0, 5-inning win over Glendale College and capped the afternoon with an 8-2 setback against Cypress College. The Falcons (8-2) will now travel to Pasadena City College on Tuesday for a 3:00 p.m. South Coast Conference crossover game.

Cerritos vs. Glendale: The Falcons opened the day by spreading out 13 hits among nine different players, while freshman pitcher Carly Gutierrez (Santa Fe HS) struck out nine batters in a complete game effort. Gutierrez (2-0) struck out the final six batters and allowed just two harmless singles. At the plate, Cerritos put three runs on the board in the bottom of the third inning and then finished off the Vaqueros (1-4) with six runs in the fourth inning. Three consecutive singles started the third inning, while two Glendale errors aided the Falcons. Sophomore outfielder Kimberly Olivas (Warren HS) and sophomore shortstop Erica Guzman (Enoch HS/William Jessup University) each colleged RBI singles.

In the fourth inning, sophomore third baseman Jissel Caballero (Warren HS) drew a one-out walk to start the rally. Four straight hits got the ball rolling, including an RBI double from sophomore second baseman Kylee Brown (Mayfair HS), followed by a two-run double from freshman offensive player Briana Lopez (Norwalk HS). The scoring continued on a two-run triple from freshman catcher Rain Vega (La Mirada HS), while freshman outfielder Tatyana Peko (La Habra HS) also drove in a run with a base hit.

Cerritos vs. Cypress: The Chargers (9-0) got the better of sophomore starting pitcher Kristen Voller (Norco HS) early on, as Jenny Vasquez clubbed a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. Cerritos cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third inning when Gutierrez led off with a walk and was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by freshman outfielder Ashley Melendez (Magnolia HS). Caballero followed with a run-scoring single. However, Cypress would tack on four more runs in the top of the fourth inning off Voller (5-2), with Val Romero and Melanie Okazaki each accounting for a pair of RBI. Lopez, who had two of the Falcons four hits in the game, hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, with Cerritos leaving runners on first and third base in the stanza.

Photos by Daryl Peterson