The Falcons were outscored 22-7 in the teams three-game conference series against El Camino.
The Falcons were swept for the second straight series and the team is now on a 6-game losing streak, putting their overall record at 8-18 and their conference record at 3-8.
Although Cerritos had 21 hits in total during the series the Falcons were not able to capitalize on their baserunners, leaving 28 men on base throughout the series.
Head Coach Ken Gaylord said, “It’s been our deal the whole year, we don’t make big pitches, we don’t get big hits.”
First baseman Paul Cruz added, “I don’t think we came through when we needed to, we just got into double plays and couldn’t punch [base runners] in and that’s really a momentum killer.”
Game one of the series was scheduled for Tuesday, March 21, and lasted eight innings before being rained out and was rescheduled for Saturday, March 25 where the final two innings were played before game three.
The Falcons fell behind the Warriors early, surrendering three runs in the first five innings before scoring their first run in the bottom of the sixth.
In the bottom of the eighth the Falcons scored three runs to tie the game at four heading into the ninth.
The Warriors then scored seven runs in the top of the ninth and held Cerritos to one run in the bottom of the inning to close the game out.
Cerritos finished the game with eight hits compared to El Camino’s 12, the Falcons also left eight men on base and were unable to slow the Warriors down allowing three doubles and a home run.
The Cerritos pitching staff allowed twelve hits and nine earned runs.
The second game of the series took place Thursday at El Camino, where the Warriors scored three runs in the first six innings.
Cruz admitted, “Working uphill is really tough against [El Camino].”
The Falcons scored their first and only run in the seventh inning, and allowed the Warriors to score to more runs to drop the second game of the series.
The Falcons again left eight runner on base and allowed the Warriors to score six runs one eight hits.
Although the Falcons haven’t had much success this season as far as wins, the team has struggled on the road with a 2-11 record away from Home.
In the final game of the series the Falcons were again unable to drive in base runners leaving ten men on base on eight hits and four walks.
The Warriors jumped out to an early two run lead before the Falcons scored their first run and only run in the bottom of the sixth.
El Camino closed the game out with three runs in the final two innings to complete the three-game sweep.
Throughout the series every Cerritos pitcher who pitched more than an inning allowed at least one run.
Driving in baserunners was a problem for Cerritos this series, but the players are looking to correct those mistakes for the future.
Second baseman Derrick Edwards said, “It’s being more aggressive and making sure you have that attacking mindset, felt that we were too passive this series.
Cruz agreed, saying, “It’s a mindset when we go up to bat, I think having a plan and seeing the ball coming out of the pitchers hand better to read what he’s throwing instead of guessing will help us out with our at-bats.”
The Falcons are now only one game ahead of last place EC-Compton, while El Camino retains their undefeated conference record at 11-0.
Gaylord concluded, “We have to play our style of baseball, and they have to buy in.”
