NORWALK, Calif. — Cerritos College baseball walked off with a 5–4 victory over Mt. San Jacinto on Saturday afternoon, capitalizing on a ninth-inning defensive miscue to snap a late tie and secure the win.
The Falcons struck first in the bottom of the fourth when Jose Perez scored on a balk, giving Cerritos a 1–0 lead. Mt. San Jacinto answered in the fifth with a pair of unearned runs, highlighted by a sacrifice fly from Ty Mattson and an RBI single by Alex Pintal to move ahead 2–1.
Cerritos responded immediately as Wyatt Ormonde tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to left field. An inning later, Brody Cuellar delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon, ripping a two-run triple to right field that scored Tyler Peshke and Perez to give the Falcons a 4–2 advantage.
The Eagles battled back in the eighth, tying the game at four on a two-run single by Dayton Thompson. But Cerritos had the final answer in the ninth. With the bases loaded, Cuellar reached on an error by the Mt. San Jacinto second baseman, allowing Zee Gutierrez to score the game-winning run.
On the mound, Mateo Heredia earned the win after tossing two scoreless innings of relief, striking out three and retiring all six batters he faced. Logan Hunt allowed just two runs - both unearned - over five innings in his start, while Jake Fowler added two scoreless frames out of the bullpen.
Perez led the Cerritos offense, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a double, while Cuellar finished 2-for-5 with two RBI, and Ormonde added his first home run of the year.
The Falcons improved their season record to 1-1 with this hard-fought victory and return to action this Thursday-Saturday when they travel to San Joaquin Delta for a three game series.
