Sophomore catcher Vicky Najera (El Rancho HS) went 2-for-3 with three RBI and freshman pitcher Tatyana Cortez (La Serna HS) limited Long Beach City College to four hits, as the Cerritos College softball team posted a 4-1 win on Friday. The South Coast Conference win kept the Falcons undefeated at 3-0, while they improved to 9-1 overall. The team will travel to Mt. San Antonio College on Tuesday for a 3:00 p.m. conference game.

After allowing LB City (9-2, 4-1) a single run in the top of the first inning, Cortez (6-1) had consecutive streaks of retiring seven batters in a row, while she allowed just three hits the remainder of the game. She worked out of a bases loaded jam in the first inning by striking out Jaela Ruiz to end the threat, with Long Beach City not getting another runner to advance past first base the remainder of the game.

At the plate, the Falcons scored twice in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead. Sophomore Ayiana Cardenas (Walnut HS) led off with a single and made her way around to third base on a pair of sacrifice bunts. Freshman third baseman Marley Cortez (Gahr HS) drew  four-pitch walk, which set the table for Najera. She lined a 3-1 pitch to the wall, which drove in both runners. 

Cerritos added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when freshman shortstop Savannah Gonzalez (Whittier HS) got things started with a single and was then safe at second base when she beat the throw to the bag on a ground ball by Marley Cortez. Najera stepped up and doubled in the first run, while the second run came home when sophomore designated player Briana Zarate (Legacy HS/Compton College) singled Marley Cortez home from third base with two outs.

Photos by Daryl Peterson