Cerritos' season comes to a close with heartbreaking loss

by Cerritos College Sports Information

Needing to win two games on Sunday to keep their season alive, the Cerritos College softball team won one game in dramatic fashion, only to suffer a heartbreaking loss in the next to end their year. Competing in the Southern California Super Regional at Palomar College, the Falcons (26-19) fought back from 3-0 and 5-4 deficits to pull out an 8-6 win over Citrus College in eight innings. With only 30 minutes between games, the team came right back to take on El Camino College in another elimination game. Cerritos led 7-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but saw the Warriors score six times to post an 8-7 decision and end the year for the Falcons.

Cerritos vs. Citrus: Trailing 3-0 early in the game, the Falcons scored once in the fourth inning and then took a 4-3 lead on a three-run home run by sophomore catcher Krystal Purkey (Gahr HS) in the fifth inning. With two outs and freshman shortstop Jenny Collazo (Paramount HS) on second base after a double, freshman outfielderJasmine Javier (Cerritos HS) reached base on an error by Owls third baseman Erinn Jaramillo. Purkey then blasted her home run off Anissa Gallegos to take the lead.

Citrus regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the stanza until freshman designated player Raquel Norzagary (Pioneer HS) kept the season alive with a two-out run-scoring single that plated freshman pinch-runnerCheyann Samuelson (Western HS) in the seventh inning. In the top of the eighth inning, sophomore outfielderJoanna Perruccio (Long Beach Wilson HS) singled to lead off the inning and then scored on a double by sophomore first basemanCrystal Cano (Norwalk HS/Lynn (FL) University). Collazo gave the team an 8-5 lead with a two-run double. Citrus scored once in the bottom of the eighth inning, but sophomore pitcher Ana Pedroza (La Mirada HS/Caldwell (NJ) College) recorded the final out to send the Falcons to a game with South Coast Conference foe El Camino.

Cerritos vs. El Camino: The bats remained hot against the Warriors, as they scored four runs in the top of the third inning for a 4-1 lead. The lead extended to 7-2 on a two-run home run by Collazo in the top of the seventh inning. But El Camino fought back and scored six times on six hits against Pedroza to pull out the win. A three-run home run by pitcher Reina Trejo made the score 7-5, and with two outs, Kathy Orozco drove in a run before Samantha Lauro completed to comeback with a two-run single to right field on a 3-2 pitch.

Sophomore outfielder Haley Petruccelli (Torrance HS) went 4-for-4 in the game with an RBI, while Collazo drove in three runs and Cano had a pair of hits.

http://cerritosfalcons.com/sports/sball/2014-15/releases/20150510z7g2gf