Led by sophomore pitcher Kristen Voller (Norco HS), the Cerritos College softball team posted a 5-4 non-conference win over Santiago Canyon College at Nancy Kelly Field on Saturday. The Falcons (26-11) close out the regular season with a pair of games against South Coast Conference South Division champion El Camino College on Tuesday. They will finish a suspended game from March 21 at 1:30 p.m. with the Warriors leading, 7-0 in the third inning before their 3:00 p.m. scheduled game.

In the win over the Hawks (27-10-1), Voller (13-5) battled back in several innings and contributed offensively. She denied Santiago Canyon any runs in the first inning and left a pair of runners on base, while limiting the Hawks to just two runs in the second inning. Voller allowed four hits in the stanza, but struck out Manoa Weijgertse for the third out of the inning.

Voller then retired 10 of the next 11 batters before consecutive solo home runs in the sixth inning got the Hawks to within a 5-4 score. She capped off the game by getting the next five outs to earn the complete game win.

Offensively, the Falcons jumped on starting pitcher Amber Elliott for four runs in the first two innings, as Voller drove in the second run of the second inning with a base hit. After sophomore outfielder Kimberly Olivas (Warren HS) scored from third base on a wild pitch, sophomore shortstop Kylee Brown (Mayfair HS) drew a walk, with freshman catcher Briana Lopez (Norwalk HS) clubbing a double.

In the second inning, Cerritos loaded the bases when freshman second baseman Emma Wolff (Mayfair HS) led off with an infield single, followed by a single from Olivas. The bases were loaded when freshman designated player Carly Gutierrez (Santa Fe HS) drew a walk, which led to a two-out, run-scoring walk by Lopez. Voller then welcomed relief pitcher Kristen Piazza with an RBI single.

The eventual game-winning run was scored in the third inning, as the Falcons once again loaded the bases, with Gutierrez bringing it home with a walk. Cerritos could not add any more to their total and collected just one hit the rest of the game.

Photos by Daryl Peterson