Baseball: Cerritos wins 30th game of the season

File Photo: Mateo Heredia had a 4-hit game in the win over LA Harbor
File Photo: Mateo Heredia had a 4-hit game in the win over LA Harbor

For the 33rd time in program history, the Cerritos College baseball team reached the 30-win plateau. The Falcons (30-9, 17-6) slapped out 20 hits in a 14-1 South Coast Conference win over host Los Angeles Harbor College on Thursday. The team will conclude their regular season schedule when they host the same Saehawks (8-28, 1-22) at 2:00 p.m. on Friday at Kincaid Field.

Cerritos scored runs in six different innings, but blew the game out with a seven-run sixth inning. Sophomore catcher Ryan Reyes (Los Alamitos HS), making his sixth consecutive start, opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second inning that drove home sophomore second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS), who got the inning started with a two-out single. In the third inning, sophomore outfielder Evan Saito (Torrance HS) led off with a solo home run, followed by a a one-out single and error by freshman outfielder Owen Martin (Narbonne HS) that put him on second base. Freshman first baseman Wyatt Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS) made it a 3-0 game with his RBI single.

A run-scoring single by freshman shortstop Jake Fowler (Los Alamitos HS) in the fourth inning plated freshman third baseman Mateo Heredia (El Segundo HS), who led off with one of his four hits in the game. Cerritos clubbed their second home run of the game in the fifth inning when sophomore outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS), who hit a two-run round-tripper.

In that seven-run sixth inning, Fowler led off with a single and scored on a double by Saito. Sophomore designated hitter Diego Orozco (Long Beach Wilson HS) followed with an RBI single, with Heredia and Reyes both driving in a pair of runs with their hits.

Sophomore starting pitcher Noah Andrunas (Gahr HS/UC Riverside) improved to 10-0 on the year after tossing seven innings and allowed just one run (unearned) on five hits and struck out six batters. Freshmen relief pitchers Troy Sonoqui (Long Beach Millikan HS) and Nicholas Moreno (Katella HS) each pitched an inning to close out the win.

Heredia (4-for-5, two RBI, two runs), Ormonde (3-for-4, walk, two RBI), Saito (2-for-4, two walks, two RBI, three runs) and Reyes (2-for-5, three RBI) all had big days for the Falcons. Reyes is batting .500 (9-for-18) with seven RBI since taking over the starting catcher duties, while Ormonde (64 RBI) is closing in on the school's single-season RBI record of 73, set by Brian Hunter in 1987.