Making their first appearance at Southwestern College since the 1996 Southern California Regional Playoffs, the Cerritos College baseball team held on for a 6-5 non-conference win on Saturday. The win by the Falcons improves their season record to 8-2, as they prepare for a three-game series with Allan Hancock College. Cerritos will host the Bulldogs at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, with the next two games in Santa Maria on Friday and Saturday.

Holding what appeared to be a comfortable 6-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Cerritos had to hold off the Jaguars (5-4), who scored three runs in the inning and had the tying runner at third base when the final out was recorded. Sophomore All-American starting pitcher Derek Valdez (Los Alamitos HS) tossed seven solid innings to improve to 4-0, while freshman relief pitcher Jake Fowler (Los Alamitos HS) struck out two of the three batters he faced in the bottom of the eighth inning. Southwestern took advantage of a throwing error that plated a run in the ninth inning, while a two-run double led to the insertion of sophomore pitcher Holden Hungerford (Warren HS/Cal State Los Angeles). He was able to strike out pinch-hitter Jeremiah Vargas, with sophomore catcher Daniel Cuadras (Warren HS/Golden West College) throwing down to first base after the ball got away from him to record the final out of the game.

The Falcons opened a 4-0 lead after scoring a pair of runs in the third and fifth innings. Freshman shortstop Fabian Ochoa (Warren HS) led off with a single and scored on a triple from freshman outfielder Owen Martin (Narbonne HS) to get the team on the board. Sophomore outfielder Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) drove in Martin with a ground out to account for the second run of the inning. In the fifth inning, Martin got things started with a leadoff walk. Orozco slapped out an RBI triple to bring in Martin, with sophomore outfielder Evan Saito (Torrance HS) lifting a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.

After Southwestern touched up Valdez for two runs (one earned) in the bottom of the fifth inning, Cerritos came back in the sixth inning to get those two runs back. Cuadras and Ocoha both singled to lead off the inning, with Cuadras moving to third on a fly ball and then scored on a wild pitch. Saito drove in what would be the eventual game-winning run with a two-out single that brought home Ochoa.

Making just his second start of the season, Ochoa went 3-for-4 and scored twice, while Orozco and Saito each drove in a pair of runs. Martin and freshman first baseman Wyatt Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) each reached base three times on the day.