Baseball: Falcons extend series with 4-3 win

Calix Armijo pitched the ninth inning to earn his 13th save of the season in the Falcons win
Calix Armijo pitched the ninth inning to earn his 13th save of the season in the Falcons win

Needing a win to keep their season alive, the Cerritos College baseball team turned to sophomore Franky Lopez (Dominguez HS) to get them the victory they required. The right-hander tossed eight innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out five, as the Falcons defeated Saddleback College, 4-3 on Saturday at Kincaid Field. The win evened their best-of-3 series and a game apiece, with the game tomorrow at noon sending the winner to the 3C2A State Championships.

Seeded #1, Cerritos (38-9) took a 2-0 lead in the third inning without the benifit of a hit. Sophomore outfielder Marlon Oviedo (Colegio Parroquial San Rafael N#1, Nicaragua/Los Angeles Harbor College) led off by getting hit by a pitch from starting pitcher Kamden Cisneros (1-1). After sophomore shortstop DJ Massey (Gahr HS/Central Arizona College) sacrificed him to second base, freshman catcher Alonso Reyes (Culver City HS) drew a walk. That ended the day for Cisneros, with relief pitcher Tyler Byrns walking two of the first three batters he faced, which forced in two runs. Sophomore third baseman Anthony Bassett (Colegio Bautista de Managua, Nicaragua/Los Angeles Harbor College) walked to load the bases, while freshman outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) was hit by a pitch, which plated the first run. Sophomore first baseman Mike Santos (Servite HS) picked up an RBI on another walk. 

The Bobcats (30-17), who are seeded #5, got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third off Lopez (12-0), as a lead-off walk came home to score.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Falcons looked to add to their total, but could only score once and left a pair of runners in scoring position. Freshman designated hitter Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) drew a walk to lead off and advanced to second base on a ground ball by Oviedo. A single by Massey loaded the bases for Reyes, who drove in Orozco on a sacrifice fly. Cerritos left 12 runners on base, with half of them in scoring position.

Leading 4-1 after Rios led off with a double, moved to third base on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Santos, Saddleback made a run at the lead when they scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning. They strung together four hits in five at-bats and had runners at first and second when Lopez got Ben Castelli to ground out to end the inning.

Sophomore closer Calix Armijo (Mary Star of the Sea HS) extended his school-record 13th save when he came on to pitch the ninth inning. He allowed a lead-off single by Rodrigo Barajas, son of former Cerritos player Rod Barajas, and he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Barajas, who has had three hits in each of the two games, moved to third base on a foul out, but was stranded there when Andrew Nykoluk flew out for the final out.

Santos drove in two of the Falcons runs on the day, with Rios and Oviedo each collecting a pair of hits.

Photos by Daryl Peterson