Baseball: Team shut out by conference's Pitcher of the Year

Carlos Vega had one of the Falcons two hits against the Mounties
Carlos Vega had one of the Falcons two hits against the Mounties

Facing last season's South Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year, the Cerritos College baseball team could not get their offense going in a 5-0 loss to visiting Mt. San Antonio College on Wednesday. The Falcons (5-11, 1-3), who are mired in a four-game losing skid, will look to break out of it on Thursday when they travel to Pasadena City College for a conference game. Its marks the third gamed in as many days for Cerritos.

As a team, Cerritos was limited to just two hits and struck out 13 times against the Mounties Michael Flores (2-2) over his eight innings of work. It was a tight 1-0 game through the first five innings before Mt. SAC scored a pair of runs in the sixth and eighth innings against the Cerritos bullpen. Sophomore starting pitcher Rene Galvan (Cathedral HS/Compton College) allowed just one run (unearned) and two hits over his five innings of work and suffered the hard-luck loss.

Offensively, the Falcons had runners on base in just four of the innings, with sophomore shortstop Julian Francois (Serra HS) the only runner to advance past first base. With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, Francois was hit by a pitch and advanced to second base on an error during a failed pickoff attempt. He was then thrown out at third base trying to steal his 12th base of the season.

Freshman outfielder Nico Briones (Long Beach Millikan HS) and sophomore third baseman Carlos Vega (Mary Star of the Sea HS/Los Angeles Harbor College) were the only two players to collect hits in the game.

Photos by Daryl Peterson