Cerritos ends their losing streak and wins 10-9 on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Freshman infielder, No. 24, Bilal Ali singled through the middle for the game-winning run against Victor Valley.
Ali collected two RBI’s through freshman’s No. 15 Andy Vega and No. 44 Sawyer Chesley.
Vega was the tying run on third and Chesley was the winning run on second as they scored through Ali’s hit.
“It was exciting, today I was struggling towards the beginning finding my swing,” Ali said, “I felt prepared and I was ready when I saw that pitch come my eyes got wide and I was able to bring it home for the team.”
Freshman outfielder, No. 23 Angel Alvarez was walked in the bottom of the ninth and got the balk off the Rams pitcher.
No. 14, Lucas Iorgulescu got to first base off a throwing error, Alvarez rounded off third base and home plate for the score to make it 7-9.
Down by two, both Vega and Chesley were walked at the plate after battling it out with the Rams pitcher.
Ali was up at the plate when a wild pitch flew right by Victor Valleys catcher when Iorgulescu scored an unearned run.
Vega would take third along with Chesley on second. Ali battled it out with the pitcher before he knew he had to send it down the middle for the win with one out.
The Falcons were down 9-6 at the end of the first inning.
The dugout consisted of motivational spirits as they remained hopeful of winning this game as losing was not an option for them.
Defensive plays from the outfield helped stoped this game get out of hand despite critical errors in the infield. Six total pitchers were used throughout the game by the Falcons.
A notable player worth mentioning is Freshman second baseman/shortstop No. 3, Alex Bueno who stepped up as the starting catcher for the game due to injured starting catcher Daniel Mariscal Jr.
“There’s certain needs ask, sometimes you have to do something you’ve never done before,” Bueno said, “when the team demands you answer.”
“I’m happy for the guys, we preach that in practice that we have to play all nine innings, starting from the first pitch in the first inning to the last out in the ninth inning and they did that they battled, they believed that they could get the job done to come out victorious and they made it happen.”
Freshman RHP, No. 50, J’amore’ Ward started on the mound and pitched three innings allowing four hits, five runs, and three errors.
Freshman LHP, No. 26, Matt Cabrera relieved RHP, No. 32, Tony Lendvai to start the top of the ninth inning for the Falcons. He only gave up one run and two hits and retired the inning against Victor Valley.
The Falcons baseball record moves to 3-5-1 this season in non-conference. Cerritos will play West Los Angeles College in the afternoon at home on Saturday, Feb. 19
