Softball: Cerritos sees chance to beat Mt. SAC slip away

File Photo: Kayla Aros had a pair of hits against Mt. SAC
File Photo: Kayla Aros had a pair of hits against Mt. SAC

Just four outs away from handing Mt. San Antonio College their first loss of the season, the Cerritos College softball team saw that chance slip away in a 5-3 South Coast Conference loss on Thursday. The Falcons (4-5, 1-4) scored three times in the top of the sixth inning, but then the Mounties (11-0, 5-0) responded with four runs in the bottom of the stanza and came away with the win. Cerritos was scheduled to play a doubleheader at Southwestern College on Saturday, but the impending rain has forced the postponement of those games. Next up for the Falcons will be a home conference game at 3:00 p.m. against Long Beach City College on Tuesday.

In the top of the sixth inning, freshman shortstop Kara Spoolstra (Mayfair HS) and sophomore outfielder Itzel Soto (Long Beach Millikan HS) slapped out consecutive one-out singles. Sophomore outfielder Haley Davis (Mayfair HS) loaded the bases with another single, with sophomore first baseman Brianna Spoolstra (Mayfair HS) getting the Falcons on the board with the team's fourth straight base hit.

A fifth straight single put the Falcons in the lead, thanks to sophomore third baseman Kayla Aros (Torrance HS), while it was a 3-1 advantage when freshman second baseman Aliya Velasquez (Northview HS) was hit by a pitch. The inning came to an end when the Mounties recorded the next two outs.

The Mounties responded with a pair of singles against sophomore pitcher Skyler Swearingen (Mayfair HS) before Megan Jones tripled in both runners to put Mt. SAC back on top. They added another run before Swearingen could get out of the inning.

Cerritos had a chance in the top of the seventh inning when Soto singled and Davis drew a walk. But Brianna Spoolstra struck out to end the game.

Aros and Soto each posted a pair of hits for the Falcons, while sophomore Annjelica Moreno-Englebrecht (Oceanside HS/Iowa Lakes CC) saw her first action of the season and went hitless in three at-bats.