Early defensive struggles put the Cerritos College softball team in a 6-1 hole against Mt. San Antonio College on Thursday in a South Coast Conference game. The Falcons (23-10, 13-3) scored three times in the top of the seventh inning on a bases loaded double from freshman designated player Jamie Ramirez (El Rancho HS), but weren't able to tie the game and dropped their third game of the season against the Mounties. The team will now return home to host Pasadena City College at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday in a conference game.

Cerritos took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when sophomore second baseman Ashley Miller (West Torrance HS) singled home freshman outfielder Haley Whitney (Warren HS), who walked and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. After tying the game in the bottom of the stanza, the Mounties took advantage of Falcon defensive struggles in the bottom of the third inning, as a pair of errors allowed two runs to score.

Two more errors in the bottom of the sixth inning put the team behind 6-1, as Mt. SAC scored three times. Sophomore pitcher Kayla Klein (La Habra HS/Texas A&M University) was victimized by the miscues and dropped to 8-4 on the year. She allowed six runs (two earned) on eight hits and struck out two batters.

The game became interesting in the top of the seventh inning after freshman outfielder Danah Vasquez (Santa Fe HS) walked, and when sophomore catcher Katie Caraballo (El Rancho HS/Fullerton College) singled with two outs, followed by a walk to freshman outfielder Arianna Hernandez (Santa Fe HS), the Falcons had the bases loaded. Ramirez laced a 2-2 pitch to the right-centerfield wall to clear the bases. But sophomore first baseman Andrea Arellano (Downey HS) popped up to end the game.

Photo by Daryl Peterson