The Cerritos College baseball team won its home game against Golden West College 10-4 on Feb. 8.

The Falcons had a total of 10 hits and only had one error. The fourth inning and beyond was when the team began its stride of running to home base.

With two runs in the first inning and three runs alone in the fourth inning, the players followed the next inning with two more runs and closed out the last two innings with three runs combined.

This win puts the Falcons up to 3-0 in the season so far.

Head coach Ken Gaylord expanded on the team’s performance of this outing saying, “It was ugly at times, but we stuck with it. We made some bad choices early in the game. We have a good outfield, our center fielder can really play defense. We made a mistake on the ball today, but you know it happens.

“I think we have a good team, [but we still] have a long way to go.”

Freshman catcher No. 33 Andre Alvarez gave his thoughts on why the team came out with the win.

“It started with our intensity from the very beginning. Hitters going up there, being aggressive, attacking early, never keeping the foot off the pedal in regards to offense.

“We were really just out there seeking to add on what we can, [without] giving them a chance to get back in the game.

“Defensively, we might’ve kicked a ball around or two, but we held our own and stayed solid,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez explains that the goal for the team every game is to pose their will on the other team. It just starts with being aggressive offensively and defensively and whatever they can to help each other come out on top.

Alvarez was at bat four times and finished with three runs and two hits.

Sophomore second baseman Jesus Mercado believes the team came out with the win because they were playing aggressive.

“We never gave up, we got big hits with the runners on. We didn’t leave them on and we just picked each other up.

“When the runner is on, we wanna get the big hit, it’s the best time to play baseball. When there’s runners on and you get the chance to score.

“We’re starting to get more aggressive and greedy with scoring ins. We’re not content at any point,” said Mercado.

Mercado was the only player at bat to hit a homer this game. On in bat with two strikes Mercado says, “At the moment, runners on, I was just trying to get the base hit. Trying to put a good piece on it and the fast ball came in and the rest was history.”

Freshman pitcher No. 35 Eric Winchester pitched four innings, but unfortunately had an injury and sat out the rest of the innings. Winchester gave away six hits, three runs, had five strike outs and from pitches to strikes was 72-47.

Shortly after Winchester came off the field Sophomore designated hitter/pitcher No. 1 Micah Hee came into pitch one inning of the game. Hee gave away one hit, one run, had a strike out and went 38-19.

Coming onto the field after Winchester got hurt Hee said, “I felt like my coaches trust me that I can get out of it. I was confident going out there, but I just didn’t have my best stuff today.”

Hee expanded on his overall performance and the idea of motivation and heart that he and his team puts out onto the field.

“I could’ve done a lot better, I mean yea I came out cold, but that shouldn’t be an excuse.”

“If I’m in the lineup or not, I wanna do as much as I can for my team. Whether it’s in the bullpen warming up guys, hitting, pitching I wanna do as much as I can to help my team come out with the W,”[sic] said Hee.

Hee ended with, “There’s no limit. No matter what the score is, if we’re up 10-0, don’t quit. Just keep hitting because you never know what can happen.”

Once Hee came out of the game Sophomore pitcher No. 40 Carlos Valle came onto the field for the last three innings of the game. He says, “I felt we had a good enough cushion to pull it off. And it was easier to get outs.”

“I pitched alright, I was able to throw some strikes. I was pounding the zone. I know I have a good defense behind me, it’s always easy to pitch behind that,” said Valle.

Valle stood his ground and did not give away any hits or runs in the last three innings, had five strike outs and was 37-27.

“I thought Winchester threw well and it’s unfortunate that he got hurt, but Carlos came in and did a great job,” said Gaylord.

The Cerritos College baseball team has its next home game against Fullerton on Feb. 15 at home.