In a rain make-up game on Monday, the Cerritos College softball team posted season highs in runs and hits in a 17-1, 5-inning South Coast Conference win over Rio Hondo College. Winners of eight in a row, the Falcons (16-6, 16-3) will host Long Beach City College in a critical game at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday at Nancy kelly Field. Cerritos trails the Vikings (27-4, 17-2) by one game, so a win would put them in a tie for first place with five conference games remaining.

Cerritos opened the game with a pair of walks, followed by a two-run double from sophomore outfielder Morgan Fontela (Long Beach Millikan HS), while later in the inning a wild pitch plated a run before freshman designated player Sienna Contreras (John Glenn HS) closed out the scoring in the inning with an RBI single. In the second inning, freshman second baseman Amarie Encarnacion (Norwalk HS) led off with a double, with Gonzalez getting hit by a pitch and Fontela drawing a walk to load the bases. Sophomore first baseman Briana Zarate (Legacy HS/Compton College) followed with an RBI single to get the scoring started in the stanza, with sophomore catcher Vicky Najera (El Rancho HS) lacing a two-run double. Cardenas added a sacrifice fly, while Najera scored on a passed ball.

After the Falcons added a single run in the third inning, Zarate led off the fourth inning with her team-leading sixth home run of the season. six different players drove in runs in the fifth inning to cap off the scoring.

Freshman pitcher Mia Star Miramontes (Sierra Vista HS) tossed a five-inning complete game and scattered one run on seven hits to improve to 8-0 on the year. The Roadrunners left runners on base in four of the five innings.

The Falcons scored in all five innings and had five players in the lineup with multiple hits. Encarnacion ended the day by going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Zarate was 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk, three RBI and four runs scored. As for Fontela, she was 3-for-3 with three RBI and scored three times.