The Cerritos College baseball team scored runs in bunches on Tuesday in their South Coast Conference opener, as they posted a 17-5 win over host Compton College. The Falcons (12-2, 1-0) will host the Tartars (3-9, 3-1) in the second game of the series at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.

In the top of the second inning, Cerritos put a five-spot in the board, as a pair of doubles put the team in front, 1-0. Sophomore Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS), making his first start of the season, doubled to lead off the inning and then scored on a double from freshman shortstop Fabian Ochoa (Warren HS). After two outs were recorded, freshman first baseman Wyatt Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) drove in a run with a base hit, with sophomore second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) drawing a bases loaded walk to bring in another run. Freshman third baseman Mateo Heredia (El Segundo HS) closed out the scoring in the inning with a two-run base hit.

The Falcons let Compton back into the game with a five-run bottom of the second inning, thanks to an error. Leading 5-2 with two outs in the inning, the Tartars cleared the bases on a three-run triple from Kevin Ramirez off freshman starter Nolan Patterson (Long Beach Millikan HS). All five runs allowed in the inning were unearned against Patterson (2-1), who picked up the win with five innings on the mound. Sophomore Holden Hungerford (Warren HS/Cal State Los Angeles) came on in relief and threw three superb innings, while freshman Nicholas Moreno (Katella HS) tossed the ninth inning.

Before the end of the game, Cerritos would go on to score the final 12 runs of the game, including 10 runs over the next three innings. In a five-run third inning, Ormonde launched a grand slam for his third home run of the season. A four-run fifth inning saw sophomore outfielder Evan Saito (Torrance HS) driving in a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. A wild pitch brought in the second run of the stanza, while sophomore outfielder Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) slapped a two-run single. A pair of freshmen drove in runs in the ninth inning when Ricky Ahumada (Torrance HS) and Julian Arellano (Downey HS) each walked with the bases loaded.

Ormonde finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and five RBI, while Rios went 4-for-6 at the plate and scored three times. Saito (2-for-3, walk, two RBI, three runs), Heredia (2-for-5, two RBI) and Ochoa (2-for-4, walk, RBI, three runs) all had multiple-hit games.