With the game locked in a 1-1 tie, one bad decision by the Cerritos College baseball team hurt them, resulting in a 3-1 South Coast Conference loss to East Los Angeles College at Kincaid Field on Thursday. The loss was the second in a row by the Falcons (5-10-1, 1-4) against the Huskies (7-9, 3-1), while they will will meet up in Monterey Park at noon on Saturday in the third game of the series.

Freshman starting pitcher Justin Almeda (Gahr HS) was cruising through the first four innings and even worked out of a bases loaded jam to maintain a no-hitter through the first five innings. He opened the sixth inning by hitting Daniel Vierra and after Jason Vela collected the first hit of the day for East LA, they had runners on first and second. Showing bunt, the Falcons had their defense drawn in with hopes of cutting down the lead runner. But Isaiah Del Haro was able to pull his bat back and slapped a base hit up the middle for an RBI.

East LA showed bunt once again with the next batter, Antonio Gomez, and the Falcons had their defense drawn in. Both runners took off, and with third baseman Mike Santos (Servite HS) drawn in, shortstop Julian Francois (Serra HS) was charging to cover third base. But Almeda threw the ball over the head of Francois, which allowed both runners to race around and score.

The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Francois led off with his state-leading fifth triple of the season. He then came home on an infield out by freshman second baseman Dean Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS). Cerritos did not collect their next hit until the bottom of the ninth inning.

Freshman first baseman Sawyer Chesley (Laguna Beach HS) led off the ninth inning with an infield single, followed by a base hit by Santos. The next two pinch-hitters were unable to get the ball out of the infield, while the third out came on a strikeout.

Francois had two of the team's four hits, while Ormonde reached base twice on walks and drove in the team's lone run. Freshman relief pitcher Jael Leal (Gahr HS) tossed the final three innings and retired nine of the 10 batters he faced and did not allow a hit.

Photos by Daryl Peterson