Rodriguez squeezes across winning run in tenth inning;

(Walnut) – By John M. Sherrard – With first place on the line in the South Coast Conference race, Mt. SAC sophomore first baseman Aimee Rodriguez (Burroughs HS) sent a suicide squeeze down the third base line, scoring freshman second baseman Kayla Sok (Glendora HS) in the bottom of the tenth inning to defeat visiting Cerritos College, 1-0, Thursday afternoon.

With the dramatic victory before an enthusiastic crowd, the Mounties (19-2) took a one-game lead in conference with a 9-1 record. Cerritos falls to 18-6 overall and 8-2 in the SCC.

Sok (2 for 5) opened the inning after an error by the Falcons' shortstop, stole second and moved over to third after a second Cerritos miscue allowed sophomore shortstop Anisa Avalos (Claremont HS) to reach first. Two batters later Rodriguez pulled off the game-ending heroics.

The Mounties managed just five hits through 10 innings, while Cerritos was throttled by pitcher Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings (Chino HS), who picked up her ninth win and tenth complete game of the season. The freshman allowed just two hits and struck out nine Falcon batters.

Cerritos had a chance to take the lead in the top of the tenth after a double by third baseman Jennifer Navarro, but was thrown out at third on a fielder choice by Pricilla Leon (Upland HS) on a grounder by Mackensie Kutzke.

Kennedy-Cummings allowed only three Cerritos batters to reach base in the ten-inning game.

Mt. SAC defeated the Falcon's earlier in the season, 8-0, and will see them one more time at Cerritos on Tuesday April 12^th.