Softball: Big flies and bases clearing double lifts Falcons to 10-1 win

File Photo: Marley Manalo hit a two-run home run in the first inning against Pasadena City
File Photo: Marley Manalo hit a two-run home run in the first inning against Pasadena City

Completing a 13-day gauntlet where the Cerritos College softball team played nine games in 13 days, the team capped their regular season with a 10-1, 5-inning South Coast Conference win over host Pasadena City College on Wednesday. The win avenged a pair of losses that the Lancers handed to the Falcons in their first  two meetings. The victory sends the Falcons (27-12, 19-5) into the Southern California Regional Playoffs on a nine-game winning streak, their longest since the 2014 season. Cerritos will host a first round best-of-three series on May 5-6.

Cerritos opened the scoring in the top of the first inning with a pair of big flies to get them started. With one out, freshman outfielder Jazmine Macias (La Mirada HS) clubbed a solo home run. Sophomore first baseman Richere Leduc (California HS) then drew a walk and came home on a two-run home run from freshman outfielder Marley Manalo (Walnut HS). That lead swelled to 6-0 after the Falcons added three more runs in the top of the second inning. A leadoff single from freshman catcher Jimena Velazquez (Fullerton HS) was followed by a walk to sophomore designated player Maddy Guillen (La Puente HS). Sophomore outfielder Alyssa Capps (Downey HS) advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt before Sotelo drove them both in with a base hit.

Sotelo ended up scoring on an infield hit by Leduc, with a throwing error on the play.

The offensive output was more than enough for sophomore pitcher Samantha Islas (Roosevelt HS), who tossed a complete game which was her eighth win in the last 10 days. She limited the Lancers to a single run, which came in the fifth inning, on just three hits.

The scoring continued when Guillen cleared the bases with a three-run double in the top of the fifth inning, with Guillen advancing to third on a bunt single from Capps and then scored on an error.