The Cerritos College Falcons softball team moves on to the next round of the playoffs over the weekend against Citrus College Owls.
The 6th seed Falcons host the 11th seed Citrus at home with the first game being won by winning a defensive battle for five innings.
The Owls took an early lead thanks to 1st baseman Madelyn Hajj hitting a single down right field leading to outfielder Alivia Martinez scoring, helping the Owls take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Falcons wasted no time responding by scoring three quick runs with 2nd baseman Ayiana Cardenas getting a sacrifice fly resulting in Vicky Najera Scoring tying the game 1-1.
On the next play freshman shortstop Savannah Gonzalez steps up to the plate and hits a triple down right field resulting in 2 RBIs helping The Falcons take the lead by a score of 3-1.
In the second inning, Citrus managed to score one run by freshman catcher Breanna Aguilar hitting a single leading to sophomore Utility Ava Camarena scoring, closing the gap to 3-2.
Falcons softball head coach, Kodee Murray gave praise to Citrus’ performance, “That Citrus team is a very good team and a worthy opponent. We scored those three runs into the first inning and just hit it at them today.”
The rest of the game was a consistent defensive back and forth with each team having their chances to score however the Falcons still kept the lead through the rest of the game.
“We put yourself in the position to score in three in those innings the pitcher gotten a little tougher in those innings,” Murray said, “There was no lack of fight that we had we just didn’t have the right hitters up at the time we needed.”
The Falcons hosted the Owls again on Saturday in an elimination game for the Owls.
After two scoreless innings, the Falcons took a big lead in the third going up 3-0 after Ayiana Cardenas hit a double to left center resulting in two RBIs for the Falcons.
Ayiana Cardenas helped the Falcons score two more runs with 2 RBI’s in the fifth and the seventh inning helping the Falcons win with a dominant score of 5-0 sweeping the Owls in the first round of playoffs.
The Falcons continue their journey in the playoffs this upcoming weekend away against 3rd seed Palomar College Comet.
The Comets are coming off dominant back-to-back wins in the first round of playoffs against College of the Canyons winning with a combined score of 15-3 across both games.
