The Cerritos Falcons baseball team suffered a 9-3 home loss to the Ventura Pirates. On Tuesday Feb. 11, the lopsided loss was the second in a row for the Falcons, who lost on the road. Despite the loss, there were still a few bright spots in the game for the Falcons, who dropped to 3-3 on the season with the loss.
Outfielder Kenton McDonald talks about the positives that come with a loss “The positives is to learn from it, learn from our mistakes at the plate and just play better defense.” McDonald also acknowledged that he himself can do a better job.
The Falcons trailed the entire game after getting into a three run hole in the first. The Falcons sent right handed pitcher Andre Cabada to the mound. Cabada would last only an inning and a third giving up three runs (two unearned) on four hits and one strikeout.
The Falcons would answer with two runs in the bottom half of the second thanks to a two run single by outfielder Kyle Carpenter. Carpenter talked about his day at the plate “I think I did good right there with the bases loaded.” Carpenter concluded by explaining that he just wanted to put the ball in play and put pressure on the defense.
The Falcons pitching however, could not manage to keep runners off the bases and the Pirates took full advantage and never let up. The Pirates consistently kept pressure on the Falcons battery when they got on base stealing four bases and attempting many hit and run plays in different situations.
The Falcons also had a bad day defensively, as they committed three errors that allowed five unearned runs to score for the Pirates. There were a few times in the game where a defensive play was the start of an offensive rally for the Pirates and looked to take the life out of the Falcons as the game went on.
The Falcons had no answer to the aggressive approach, the Pirates were taking and it showed on the scoreboard as the runs kept adding up as the game went on. Cerritos would manage to get another run home in the bottom of the sixth, but it was a little too late and the Pirates would cruise on to a win.
Freshmen outfielder Adrian Ramirez gives his take on the game “I mean we could’ve fixed some things, some pitching mistakes, some hitting but it was a tough loss.” Ramirez concluded by mentioning that there were moments when his team executed, but overall there just aren’t too many positives and the Falcons need to clean up their play on the practice field before the next game.
Sophomore outfielder Aaron David talked briefly about his performance “I went up to pinch hit and got a hit.” David concluded by saying there weren’t many positives in a home loss like this and his team just needs to play better.
Up next for the Falcons are back-to-back home games on Thursday and Friday against Mt. San Jacinto College and Oxnard College respectively.
Head baseball coach Ken Gaylord was unavailable for comment.
