The Women’s softball team looks to take out one of their rivals in Mt. San Antonio on a surprisingly windy day at Kincaid field.
With fans in attendance and cheering after every hit, Cerritos looks to keep their three-game winning streak intact against the Mounties.
Falcons’ ace Samantha Islas was the starting pitcher for Cerritos College and struggled to get Mt. Sac players out since she walked the first batter in the order, due to a fielding error.
With only one out and walking Mt. Sac’s Brianna Goris, Islas gave up a base hit to make it 1-0 for the Mounties and another base hit loaded the bases for Mt. San Antonio.
Catcher Jimena Velazquez picks off the runner at first base and after yet another walk, Islas got a huge strikeout to stop the bleeding.
Islas had a tough time on the mound, resulting in playing a full seven innings against Long Beach on March 31 and starting yet another game against Los Angeles Harbor on the 28th.
The Falcons batted up in the bottom of the first inning; After a single from Alyssa Sotelo plus a walk from Jazmine Macias, Cerritos had three outs in a row, leaving two baserunners stranded.
Cerritos had one of their pitchers quickly warmed up but after the inning was over, head coach Kodee Murray met with the starting pitcher at the bullpen to practice throwing and possibly talking about mechanics.
After a Mounties’ Flyout, Asias Chacon hit a single and after a ground-out bunt, she advanced to second.
With a runner on second base and two outs, Islas got a flyout to left field and that meeting showed to help the ace get back into her rhythm.
In the bottom of the second, Marley Manalo gave the Falcons a quick single and stole second base, to give the Falcons yet another RBI opportunity.
After two ground outs, Centerfielder Alyssa Capps hit a quick RBI single to the pitcher and scored Manalo, tying the game 1-1.
Leadup hitter Sotelo hit a single to right field and Macias also gave the Falcons a single to center field but Capps quickly ran to home but was called out by the umpire.
Jazmine Macias said that the called out and how that impacted the mentality of the team, “It may have brought the team’s self-esteem down and some of the errors were part of it too.”
What looks like a safe play was called out but to make things worse, Mt. Sac’s third hitter hit a solo home run to open the top of the third inning as Mt. Sac quickly responds to the Falcons’ score.
However, the Falcons ace got a fly out and ground out but to end the inning, another fielding error resulted in Desiree Bravo taking first base.
Catcher Velazquez caught Bravo stealing second and gave the Falcons an opportunity to tie the game back up.
Reanna Carranza took the mound during the top of the fourth inning after a double and stopped the Mounties from scoring any more points.
Now going to the bottom of the fourth inning, Velazquez forced a walk and was sacrificed bunted to second base.
Capps executed yet another bunt perfectly and allowed pinch runner Natalie Basurto to get to third base.
The Falcons had a runner first and third base with one out, Sotelo grounded into a double play and ended the RBI opportunity.
Mt. San Antonio led 3-1 going into the top of the 6th inning but after a walk and single, the Mounties hit a double to center and extended the lead to 4-1.
Cerritos had back-to-back fielding errors, scoring a total of three runs as a result, leaving the Falcons losing 7-1 and putting pressure on them to rally quickly.
With a runner on second base, the Falcons had two batters strike out and a ground out ending the inning with yet another person left on base.
Velazquez, the catcher for the Falcons, said the plan is to bounce back tomorrow versus Rio Hondo and said they (Mt. Sac) were one of the best teams in the conference.
Mt. San Antonio won 7-1 against Cerritos and the Falcons look to bounce back against Rio Hondo on April 4 at 3 p.m.
