Talon Marks Online Sports

Making a comeback after a six-game losing streak, the Cerritos College baseball team won its home game 3-2, against El Camino College Compton Center on Monday.

The Falcons started the game off ahead of the Warriors with two runs and one hit.

The game had originally been scheduled for Saturday but due to weather conditions, the game had been re-scheduled.

On whether or not the weather benefitted the team, outfielder Chris Esparza said, “It did help a little bit by having the opportunity to practice on Sunday and we were then given extra time to focus and get ready to play.”

Infielder Daniel Renteria drove in for outfielders Evan Sanchez and Bubby Rossman to score.

Esparza said about their win, “We played as a team and didn’t give up. We actually played all nine innings and we just fought the whole game.”

In the third inning, Cerritos scored its last run of the game.

Second baseman Chris Hefner talked about the overall improvement that the team made.

“We stuck with our game plan. We went into the game knowing what we needed to do to win and it worked.”

Specifically, Hefner said the team improved its defense.

“Our pitching also improved a lot yesterday. That is what kept us in the game,” he added.

By the end of the game, Hefner had three at bats, one hit and two assists.

In the fourth, ECC had two runs and three hits.

During the last five innings, both teams went back and forth, trying to prevent each other from scoring.

The rest of the game had no recorded hits.Third baseman Zach Johnson said who he thought was a key player in the game.

“Definitely Jon Villapondo because he dealt and competed hard.”

Villapondo was the starting pitcher for the Falcons, pitching for 7.2 innings with two strikeouts.

As far as motivation, Johnson said, “Frustration has been our motivation. Everyone’s sick of losing so us being frustrated everyday has made us buy into the Cerritos way which is winning.”

Johnson had four at bats, one hit and three assists in the game.

When it came to communicating as a team, Hefner said, “The team chemistry has been there all season. We just had to all pull together and work as a team to get the job done. That is what made the difference.”

Cerritos’ next game will be at home against El Camino on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

This will be Cerritos’ second game of the season against El Camino.

The Falcons are currently 4-14 in the season and 1-5 in the South Coast Conference.