It was a stellar performance from freshman pitcher Hillary Perez-Ashley as she pitched a one-hitter against Santa Barbara City College.
The Falcons also hit four home runs and was certainly a team effort from Cerritos winning, 9-0, in their South Coast Conference season opener.
Everything went well for the Falcons as Santa Barbara was held to one hit and no runs through six innings.
Cerritos jumped on the Vaqueros quickly in the second inning when shortstop Lindsey Marquez hit a deep home run towards center field and put the Falcons up, 1-0.
After three consecutive singles, the bases were loaded for outfielder Lauren Castrellon, who took advantage as she drew a walk to make it 2-0 for Cerritos.
Although, Cerritos left three base runners as it finished the second inning up, 2-0.
The Falcons continued to run the score in the third inning as Cerritos sent six batters to the plate to get two more runs making the score 4-0.
“We pulled out the bats today, we were smart on the pitch counts,” said Freshman Lauren Castrellon about the hitting performance Cerritos displayed.
A two run home run from third baseman Brandi Rummell put the Falcons up 6-0 and made a comeback from Santa Barbara City College seem unlikely.
The bottom of the sixth inning was the close out inning for Cerritos as Castrellon again came up big with a solo home run.
After second baseman Gina Alcaraz walked, catcher Samantha Vaaulu stepped up and hit a monster home run toward left field to end the game.
The mercy rule came in effect after the home run and sealed the victory for Cerritos to win 9-0.
Hillary Perez-Ashley, a freshman, threw a great game and stayed in control getting three strikeouts and two walks.
“Trying to stay in my game and doing what i know i could do and trusting it,” Perez-Ashley said about her strong performance on the mound.
Coach Kodee Murray was certainly pleased with Cerritos performance saying, “Cerritos did a great job especially for the opener.”
It was certainly a statement game for Cerritos showing that it is the team to beat, regardless of playing eight freshman.
