Making their first appearance in the 3C2A State Championships since 2009, the Cerritos College softball team shook things up early with their win over Sierra College, 8-6 at Mt. San Antonio College on Thursday. The Falcons (32-14), who were the #4-seeded team from Southern California, knocked off the #1-seed from Northern California Wolverines (42-4). Cerritos will now take on conference rival Mt. San Antonio College at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. Back in 2009, it was Sierra that ended the season for the Falcons at the state tournament.

On two occasions, the Falcons opened up two-run leads only to have the Wolverines respond with a pair of runs. In the top of the fifth inning, Cerritos pushed four runs across the plate to take an 8-4 lead. In that stanza, the team loaded the bases after consecutive singles from sophomore second baseman Alyssa Sotelo (El Rancho HS), freshman outfielder Jazmine Macias (La Mirada HS) and sophomore first baseman Richere Leduc (California HS). Freshman catcher Jimena Velazquez (Fullerton HS) then hit a ball that deflected off the glove of pitcher Arianna De La Loza, who came on in relief at the top of the inning for starter Amara Sutton for a single that plated the first run of the inning.

Another pitching change brought in Kendal Manley, who proceeded to walk sophomore third baseman Brooklyn Bedolla (Mayfair HS) to force in a run. Sophomore shortstop Miranda Diaz (California HS) then singled up the middle for a 7-4 lead. In returned Sutton, who got freshman outfielder Marley Manalo (Walnut HS) to hit into a double play, but it brought in the fourth run of the inning.

Sophomore pitcher Samantha Islas (Roosevelt HS), who sent the Falcons to the state tournament with a pair of complete game wins over Fullerton last Saturday, tossed another complete game against the Wolverines. Although she was touched up for six runs (five earned), she shut down Sierra in the final two innings to preserve the victory. After the Wolverines scored twice in the bottom of the fifth inning, Islas (21-7) retired seven of the final eight batters.

Eight of the nine starters had at least one hit, while Manalo drove in three runs.

Photos by Daryl Peterson