Late-inning rally sends Cerritos Falcons past Riverside City in softball matchup

RIVERSIDE - At Riverside City College on Tuesday, the Cerritos College softball team scored four times in the top of the seventh inning and then held on for a 6-5 win to improve to 2-0 on the year. The Falcons will play their third straight road game to start the season, as they travel to Santa Ana College for a 2:30 p.m. game on Thursday.

Trailing 4-2 heading into the top of the seventh inning after Riverside City scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead, Cerritos opened the stanza with an infield single from sophomore outfielder Morgan Fontela (Long Beach Millikan HS), followed by a double from freshman first baseman Valerie Vasquez (California HS). With one out, sophomore designated player Briana Zarate (Legacy HS/Compton College) laced an 0-2 pitch down the left field line to drive in both runners and tie the game. A walk to freshman shortstop Savannah Gonzalez (Whittier HS) kept the inning alive, while a pair of Tigers errors allowed two more runs to score.

Freshman outfielder Carissa Amaya (El Rancho HS) saw her ground ball to shortstop thrown wild to first base, which allowed Zarate to score, while Gonzalez came around to score when freshman third baseman Marley Cortez (Gahr HS) saw her ground ball to second base booted.

The insurance run that made it a 6-4 lead turned out the be the game-winning run, as the Tigers scored once in the bottom of the seventh inning. Freshman pitcher Mia Star Miramontes (Sierra Vista HS), who recorded the final out in the sixth inning when Riverside City had the bases loaded, earned the win by stranding the tying run on second base when the final out was recorded. Freshman Tatyana Cortez (La Serna HS) tossed the first 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits and struck out eight batters.

The Falcons scattered six hits in the game and left 11 runners on base, but made the most out of their opportunities. They converted a walk and hit batter in the fifth inning into two runs, with Cortez, Fontela, sophomore outfielder Vicky Najera (El Rancho HS) and Amaya all reaching base twice.