With each win improving their chance at a post-season bid, the Cerritos College softball team recorded a pair of huge victories at Nancy Kelly Field on Saturday. The Falcons (20-9) opened the day with a 10-4 win over Fullerton College and followed that with a 4-1 victory over College of the Canyons. The team will play their next three games on the road, with the first being a 4:00 p.m. affair at Riverside City College on Monday.

Cerritos vs. Fullerton: The Falcons got a quick jump on the Hornets (17-14) when freshman catcher Briana Lopez (Norwalk HS) hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore pitcher Jissel Caballero (Warren HS) doubled with one out, while sophomore shortstop Kylee Brown (Mayfair HS) was hit by a pitch. That set the table for Gutierrez, who launched the first offering by Natasha Trujillo over the left-center field fence. Brown added to the lead with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the second inning.

After the Hornets closed the score to 5-3, Cerritos put a four-spot on the board in the bottom of the third inning, thanks in part to five walks. The bases were loaded after walks to freshman Carly Gutierrez (Santa Fe HS) and sophomore first baseman Kristen Voller (Norco HS), while freshman third baseman Rain Vega (La Mirada HS) singled. Consectuive walks to freshman pinch-hitter Andrea Villalta (Norwalk HS) and sophomore outfielder Kimberly Olivas (Warren HS) brought home runs. Brown then added another two-run base hit to cap off the scoring in the inning.

Caballero improved to 7-1 on the year after a 128-pitch complete game. She allowed four runs on eight hits, but also struck out eight batters.

Cerritos vs. College of the Canyons: Looking to match the pitching performance of Caballero in the opening game, Voller also threw 128 pitches in a complete game win, which upped her record to 10-5. After allowing a solo home run to Azzie Anderson in the first inning, Voller worked out of several situations and received some solid defense behind her. She finished with seven strikeouts and received a stellar play by freshman Lesley Briseno (Cypress HS) in the fourth inning on a diving catch, with Vega making an equally great play to end a threat in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, Vega stabbed a hard liner along the baseline off the bat of Sienna Vannoy for the third out, with Briseno also chasing down a fly ball for the final out of the game.

Offensively, Cerritos did all their damage in the second inning. Gutierrez reached base on an error, followed by a line drive single up the middle by Voller. With Briseno at the plate, her pop-up was mishandled by pitcher Alexis Ramirez on a controversial play. The umpires ruled she did not have complete control of the ball before she dropped it and the Falcons had runners at first and second base with one out. After Vega drew a walk to load the bases, freshman second baseman Emma Wolff (Mayfair HS) sent a fly ball to center field, where Melanie Abzun lost the ball in the sun, which brought home a pair of runs. Before the end of the inning, Caballero and Brown would drive in runs on bases loaded walks.

Photos by Daryl Peterson