The Cerritos Falcons baseball team has been facing adversity all season long.

Last week’s series against El Camino College was no exception. The Falcons got shutout for the second time in conference play all year in the first game of the three-game-set 6-0.

The team bounced back with a with a 10-2 victory in game two behind a great pitching performance by sophomore pitcher Kyle Carpenter.

In game three the Falcons were down 5-0 in the fourth inning before taking the lead in the fifth after scoring five runs in the inning and eventually winning 7-6.

Sophomore third baseman Victor Guadalupe who went 2-3 with a walk and a homerun in the rubber game, talks about how Cerritos bounced back after losing the first game at home.

Guadalupe said, “I think just that first game kind of lit a fire under us and we realized what was at stake and we don’t want to give away conference, we’d rather have someone take it from us.”

Although hot hitting is what got the Falcons back into this series, the pitching effort put forth by Carpenter in game two is also worth noting considering he went eight shutout innings and gave up a lone hit, while collecting six strikeouts and surrendering no walks.

Head coach Ken Gaylord said, “Carpenter was really good on Thursday.”

Gaylord also acknowledged the performance put on by Guadalupe in game three, “In that fifth inning it fell within four and that’s when he got a strike and he had a good game both offensively and defensively.”

While the hitters bounced back and scored 17 runs in the final two games, the pitching also was able to regain some form after a rough start in game one, when they allowed six runs (five earned).

“I just think in the first two games we weren’t ourselves. We were on a five-game win streak as it was so we came out thinking we were going to be able to take that first game like nothing and the baseball gods said, ‘oh not today,’” said sophomore pitcher Travis Bonner.

Bonner pitched 2 2/3 innings in game one and allowed two earned runs on two hits while striking out two and walking one, but was able to rebound in game three when he worked 1 2/3 innings and surrendered 0 runs, while allowing one hit and collecting one punch-out.

The Falcons are now two games out of first place in the South Coast Conference with three games left to play against LA Harbor College this week.