Playing one of the toughest nine-day block of games that anyone in the state will face, the Cerritos College softball team dropped a tough 4-2 South Coast Conference decision to El Camino College at Nancy Kelly Field on Thursday. The nine days consisted of games against #7 Cypress College (4-3, 8-inning loss), #9 Long Beach City (4-1 win), #11 Mt. San Antonio (1-0 loss) and the setback against the #2 Warriors. Next up for the Falcons (9-3, 3-2) includes a 1:00 p.m. conference game against unranked East Los Angeles College and is capped off with a noon game on Saturday against #5 Palomar.

Cerritos took a 2-0 lead over El Camino (10-1, 5-0) through the first three innings before allowing four unanswered runs. In the bottom of the first inning, sophomore first baseman Morgan Fontela (Long Beach Millikan HS) was hit by a pitch with two outs. Freshman first baseman Valerie Vasquez (California HS) followed with a base hit, with sophomore designated player Briana Zarate (Legacy HS/Compton College) putting the team on the board with a single.

Sophomore catcher Vicky Najera (El Rancho HS) led off the third inning with a double and then stole third base before Fontela and Vasquez drew walks to load the bases. The only run they could push across the plate was a sacrifice fly by sophomore second baseman Ayiana Cardenas (Walnut HS).

Through the first three innings, freshman pitcher Tatyana Cortez (La Serna HS) had limited El Camino to just one hit. But in the top of the fourth inning, solo home runs by Savanna Kastigar and Lexi Ramirez tied the game. A pair of Falcon errors in the sixth inning allowed the Warriors to take a 3-2 lead, while they added an insurance run in the seventh inning to cap off the scoring.

The Falcons were able to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning, but were unable to score and collected just one hit in the final three innings of the game.

Photos by Daryl Peterson