After he registered the first two outs in the first inning, Cerritos College freshman pitcher Derek Valdez (Los Alamitos HS) gave up a bad hop single, followed by a two-run home run. Those runs by visiting Saddleback College would be enough offense to hand the Falcons a 3-1 loss in the first of a three-game series in the Southern California Regional Finals. The loss by the #1-seeded Falcons (37-9) was their first of the post-season, while the #5-seeded Bobcats (30-16) need just one more win to advance to the 3C2A State Championships. Game 2 of the series is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at Kincaid Field.

Valdez (13-2), the state-leader in wins, had only allowed one home run all season prior to that long ball. But the two-run round-tripper by Jacob Beauchaine put Cerritos behind 2-0 after the first stanza. Through 7 1/3 innings, Valdez allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out eight batters.

Offensively, Cerritos had trouble making contact with Saddleback pitcher Jake Wade's offerings. They did get a lead-off single by freshman outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) in the second inning, while freshman second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) drew a two-out walk. But the Falcons could not string together hits all afternoon and were victimized by Wade (7-3), who ended up with 14 strikeouts.

The Falcons seemed to have broken through in the eighth inning on Bobcats closer Zachary Allegro. Sophomore shortstop DJ Massey (Gahr HS/Central Airzona College) led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third base on a double by sophomore third baseman Anthony Bassett (Colegio Bautista de Managua, Nicaragua/Los Angeles Harbor College). The next play may have changed the outcome of the game, as the umpires overruled a call that removed Bassett from third base. On the play, Rios grounded to Saddleback shortstop Andrew Nykoluk, who threw to third base to try and tag Bassett. He was ruled safe at third base after avoiding the tag by J.C. Allen, with Massey scoring on the play. Instead of having runners and first and third base with one out, the overturned call that ruled Bassett out, left just a runner on first base.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Immel reached base on a single right right field, while a passed ball advanced him to second base. Freshman pinch-hitter Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) singled to right field, putting runners at first and third base. Massey, who thought he had drawn ball four, was called back into the batter's box, where he grounded out to end the game.

Photos by Daryl Peterson