The pitching arms, gloves, and bats came out ready to play for the Cerritos College baseball team Saturday afternoon.
Stellar pitching, superior defense and grade-A hitting was everything the Falcons needed for their 12-2 thrashing of the Victor Valley Rams in front of an estimated 100 people, according to cerritosfalcons.com, at Kincaid Field on a warm yet windy day.
Cerritos compiled 17 total hits, four of them off the bat of Mark Pena, who also picked up a pair of RBIs on two hits.
“I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do for my team,” Pena said. “That being hitting the ball and playing good defense.”
Sophomores Kenton McDonald and Fermin Beza also shined at the plate.
McDonald picked up three hits and three RBIs and Beza got a hit and knocked in a pair of runs.
“I was just trying to hit the ball hard,” McDonald said. “As long as I get a hit and on base, it’s all that matters to me and my team.”
In the bottom of the third, the Falcons already had a 1-0 lead when McDonald doubled to the right field wall.
After Beza hit a sacrifice fly to knock in Jonathan Avila, McDonald scored on a double by Gary James.
“I was also trying to hit the ball hard,” Beza said. “Even though I only got one hit, I just wanted to play a role in this win.”
Cerritos’ lone error occurred in the top of the fifth when relief pitcher Sean Kinnicutt tried to field a ball off the bat of Victor Valley’s Frankie Sarabia but could not get a good handle on it which allowed Sarabia to reach base.
The Rams however, committed five errors, three of which resulted in Falcon runs.
Cerritos head coach Ken Gaylord said, “I wanted [the players] to hit hard ground balls and line drives right at [Victor Valley’s defense]. They did just that and [the Rams] could not hang on to the ball and we made them pay for their mistakes.”
The first Victor Valley mistake was a wild pitch that allowed Kevin Sainz to score the first run of the game two batters after he doubled to start the inning.
The Falcons took advantage of numerous mistakes by the Rams to blow the game wide open.
Cerritos improves to 3-1 with the victory.
On deck for the Falcons, a rematch against Mt. San Jacinto College, this time in Falcon Territory.
The game will be on Tuesday, Feb. 9 with the first pitch at 2 p.m.
