The Cerritos College softball team beat Compton College on April 1, after a four-inning stalemate.
The wind was the story of the day as it pushed at speeds of nearly 20 mph west against the pitcher but behind the batter.
Falcon’s pitcher Tatyana Cortez rated the wind an eight out of ten before talking about the challenges the wind presented, “I feel like I don’t get that full push when I push off the mound when I throw the ball.”
The early innings of the game saw both teams struggling to find any advantage over each other.
Both teams had managed to get players on base, but neither could complete a run.
Cerritos came close during the bottom of the third as Savannah Gonzalez made a slide for home which caused her to suffer an ankle injury as she stated that she got cleated.
By the bottom of the fourth, both teams failed to reach their fourth batters to head into the fifth inning with the score still at 0-0.
Compton had three immediate outs, giving Cerritos the plate.
Morgan Fontela opened the inning with a double, followed by Vicky Najera also hitting a double, with Fontela scoring the first point of the day.
The following three batters loaded the bases as Najera scored the second point of the game.
As Sienna Contreras made it to first, Briana Zarate was called out on third, the first of the inning.
Carissa Amaya walked which loaded the bases, Amarie Encarnacion walked as Ayiana Cardenas scored while the bases remained loaded.
Compton called a timeout to make strategic changes to their defense.
When the game resumed Contreras took advantage of a pitch gone wrong scoring the fourth run of the day.
Encarnacion and Amaya remained on second and third, as a ground ball by Marley Cortez became the second out of the inning.
Savannah Gonzalez responded with a single, getting Encarnacion and Amaya home scoring the fifth and sixth points of the game.
Irma Gonzalez then pinch-ran for Savannah due to the injury sustained during the third inning.
Fontela returned to the plate with a single that put Gonzalez onto second.
Najera walked and loaded the bases once again, giving Zarate a chance to end the game as she stepped up to the plate.
In a stunning play, Zarate hit a grand slam taking the score from 6-0 to 10-0, forcing the mercy rule into effect.
Zarate discussed her approach during the final play, “That last at bat I wasn’t thinking at all, coach and I talked about it. I do better when I don’t think.”
A 10-0 win reads domination, but according to Falcons head coach Kodee Murray it wasn’t, “We did not blow out the competition” she said, while adding that she saw improvement from Compton.
Players still enjoyed the win, Fontela, who scored during the grand slam said, “ I was jumping on the way home, that was awesome”.
Najera said, “It’s a good team win, everyone did their part and I’m very proud of the girls for coming through at the end.”
