In the first game of the SoCal Challenge on Thursday, the Cerritos College baseball team clubbed seven extra base hits and received solid pitching, as they defeated visiting San Joaquin Delta College, 11-3. The Falcons (3-0) will now host Los Angeles Valley College at 1:00 p.m. in their second game of the tournament.

After spotting San Joaquin Delta (1-2) a 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning, Cerritos responded with four runs in the bottom of the stanza. Freshman outfielder Owen Martin (Narbonne HS) led off with a single, while sophomore outfielder Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) was hit by a pitch. Sophomore outfielder Evan Saito (Torrance HS) tied the game with a double, which was followed by an RBI ground out from freshman designated hitter Brody Cuellar (Bishop Montgomery HS). Freshman first baseman Wyatt Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) then launched a 1-0 offering from Mustangs pitcher Aden Bowman for his first home run of the season.

That would be enough offense for sophomore starting pitcher Noah Andrunas (Gahr HS/UC Riverside), who struck out eight batters in his seven innings of work. Andrunas (2-0) started the game slowly by allowing hits to two of the first three batters he faced, which accounted for the first run of the game. After he gave up the first-inning RBI double, Andrunas retired 15 of the next 16 batters he faced. He recorded a strikeout to end each of his seven innings of work.

The Falcons followed their first-inning outburst with a five-run second inning that was highlighted by four consecutive doubles. With the first two batters retired, Orozco drew a walk, which was followed by RBI doubles from Saito, Cuellar, Ormonde and sophomore second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS). Sophomore catcher Daniel Cuadras (Warren HS/Golden West HS) drove in the fifth run of the inning with an RBI single. The two final runs came in the eighth inning, thanks to an error, two wild pitches and a passed ball.

Photos by Daryl Peterson