Taking on Fullerton College for the second time in as many days, the Cerritos College baseball team responded with an 8-3 win on Saturday. Not only was it the first win of the season for the Falcons (1-1), it also marked the first victory for new head coach Nate Fernely. The team will now travel to College of the Desert on Tuesday for a 1:00 p.m. game.

Deadlocked at 2-2 after three innings, Cerritos busted open for five runs over the next two innings to open a 7-3 advantage. In the top of the fourth inning, freshmansecond baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) and sophomore shortstop DJ Massey (Gahr HS/Central Arizona College) drew one-out walks and both advanced on an infield out. Freshman outfielder Ricky Ahumada (Torrance HS) broke the tie with a two-out singled that plated both runners.

The Hornets (1-1) got one of the runs back in the bottom of the stanza, but the Falcons responded with three runs in the fifth inning. Freshman outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a single from Immel. Both runners advanced a base on a passed ball and then both came home on a base hit from Massey. Before the final out was recorded, Cerritos added a third run in the inning in a sacrifice fly fron Ahumada.

Freshman starting pitcher Derek Valdez (Los Alamitos HS) tossed the first 3 2/3 innings and surrendered three runs (two earned) before giving way to sophomore Keanu Rodriguez (Los Altos HS). In 4 1/3 innings, Rodriguez (1-0) allowed just one walk to earn the win, while sophomore Calix Armijo (Mary Star of the Sea HS) struck out two batters in the ninth inning.

Massey finished the day 2-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and three runs scored, while Ahumada also drove in three runs. Sophomore designated hitter Marco Lopez (Narbonne HS/Vanguard University) drove in a pair of runs in the first inning, with Immel and freshman first baseman Juan Garcia (Narbonne HS) recording a pair of hits on the day.