Trailing 1-0 heading into the fourth inning, the Cerritos College baseball team scored all the runs they would need, as they took a 4-1 advantage on their way to a 7-3 home-opening win over Mt. San Jacinto College on Saturday. The Falcons (2-0), who completed the two-game sweep over the Eagles (0-2) will play three home games this weekend, as they open with San Joaquin Delta College at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, sophomore outfielder Evan Saito (Torrance HS), whose arm would come into play later in the game, led off with a double. Freshman designated hitter Brody Cuellar (Bishop Montgomery HS) laced an RBI single to get the first run on the board, while a single from sophomore second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) put runners on first and third base. That set the table for freshman third baseman Mateo Heredia (El Segundo HS), whose RBI single was followed by a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Nate Gardenswartz (Long Beach Wilson HS). Freshman shortstop Lucas Scott (Long Beach Poly HS) closed out the scoring in the inning with an RBI single.

Sophomore starting pitcher Derek Valdez (Los Alamitos HS), who went 13-2 his freshman season and earned All-American honors, was touched up early by Mt. San Jacinto, as they took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. He allowed three straight hits to start the second inning, but went on to retire seven of the next eight batters. Valdez (1-0) got out of the fourth inning with an inning-ending double play, but did allow two more runs before his day ended after six full innings. The pairing of freshman Nolan Patterson (Long Beach Millikan HS) and Heredia closed out the game.

The Falcons broke open the 4-3 lead with three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. In the top of the stanza, the Eagles had runners on second and third base with one out when Steve Felipe lifted a fly ball to left field. Saito caught the ball on the run and fired it to Gardenswartz, who tagged out Steve Kirtides at the plate to end the inning. The bottom of the inning saw Saito lead off with a walk, while Cuellar reached second base when Mt. San Jacinto outfielders Derek Hurtado and Juni Rodriguez ran into each other with the ball landing in the outfield for a two-base error.

Immel made it a 5-3 game with an infield hit, while Heredia, who opened the game as the starting third baseman, dropped in a base hit to bring in another run. Gardenswartz capped off the scoring with his second sacrifce fly of the game.

Saito, Immel and Heredia all collected a pair of hits, while Heredia also drew a pair of walks and drove in two.