Warriors Have Game Slip Away Late against No. 11 Cerritos

TORRANCE, Calif. --- No. 5 El Camino College saw its lead slip away in the final inning in a 3-2 South Coast Conference loss to No. 11 Cerritos on Thursday afternoon at the ECC Softball Field.

The Warriors led for the majority of the game but the Falcons rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh inning to rip the victory away from ECC.

Lexi Ramirez took the loss as she went all seven innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits. She walked four and struck out four.

Emma Garcia was 2-for-4 with a run scored with Cheyenne Navarro, Lilly Lewis, Ramirez, Jackie Ordonez and Emily Gamboa all recording hits for the Warriors in the loss.

The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the third inning as Garcia hit a bunt-single to third and then advanced to third on a throwing error with one out. Navarro quickly brought her in with a single up the middle to make it 1-0.

Ramirez held the Falcons offense in check after that, retiring seven of the next eight batters before Morgan Fontela doubled to left-center with one out in the sixth. Fontela advanced to third on a wild pitch but Ramirez got a groundout and a popup to end the threat and keep the Falcons off the scoreboard.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Warriors added some insurance as Ramirez singled to right-center with one out. Katie Michaels entered to pinch run and was quickly in scoring position after Ordonez was hit by a pitch.

Gamboa then hit a grounder to short where shortstop Ayiana Cardenas fielded the ball and touched second base for the first out. She tried to turn two but Gamboa beat the throw. Meanwhile, Michaels never stopped running from second and slid in behind the throw to home plate to make it 2-0 Warriors.

But the Falcons rallied in the seventh with a leadoff walk and two straight singles to load the bases. A run was forced in after Ramirez issued her second walk of the inning and then the big blow came when Marley Cortez hit a grounder to first that bounced off Savanna Kastigar's glove and into the outfield, allowing the tying and go-ahead run to score.

Ramirez would eventually recover to retire the side without any further damage.

The Warriors had one last chance in the bottom of the seventh as Garcia singled to center field with two outs but Navarro struck out to end the game and leave the potential game-tying run on base.

The Warriors will get right back to work on Friday as they travel to Long Beach for a battle between two of the top-10 teams in the state. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.