Baseball: Day ends with Falcons dropping third game of series

File Photo: Falcons defeated in final game of series
File Photo: Falcons defeated in final game of series

On Saturday, the Cerritos College baseball team started off on a high note when Andy Vega (Mary Star of the Sea HS) hit a walk-off home run to win their suspended game against Los Angeles Harbor College, 6-5. However, the day concluded with the Falcons (5-8-1, 1-2) suffering a 9-4 setback at the hands of the Seahawks in their third game of the series. Cerritos will now start a three-game set with East Los Angeles College with the first game on the road at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday in Monterey Park.

In the first inning of their final game of the series, LA Harbor scored four times, thanks in part to a pair of errors on defense and two wild pitches from freshman starting pitcher J'amore' Ward (Gahr HS). The Falcons got one of those runs back in the top of the third inning, but surrendered two runs in the bottom of the stanza.

It was the same in the sixth inning when freshman second baseman Dean Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) doubled with one out, advanced to third base on a fly out and came home on a single from freshman first baseman Sawyer Chesley (Laguna Beach HS). LA Harbor responded with three more runs (one earned) in the bottom of the sixth inning against freshman relief pitcher Joseph Cossette (Laguna Hills HS), while five of the nine runs allowed on the day were unearned due to six Cerritos errors on the day.

The Falcons scored two more times in the top of the eighth inning when freshman outfielder Hasan Standifer (San Pedro HS) led off with a double. He moved to third on a passed ball and after freshman outfielder Terril Steen, Jr. (North Torrance HS) and Ormonde walked, Cerritos had the bases loaded. Sophomore infielder Delvan Gomez (Gahr HS/College of the Desert) singled in a run while Steen came home on a fielder's choice from Chesley.

The bullpen of Carter Stoddard (Sunny Hills HS), Anthony Rodriguez (Gahr HS) and Dawson Holbrook (Godinez HS) didn't allow a hit over the las 2 2/3 innings and combined for four strikeouts.