Baseball Defeats Cerritos With 11-2 Victory

Zach Rivas homered for 3 RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Zach Rivas homered for 3 RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The No. 8 Long Beach City College baseball team defeated Cerritos College 11-2 on Saturday afternoon for their third-straight conference victory. With the win, the Vikings improve to 22-12 overall and 15-4 in the South Coast Conference.

Freshman pitcher Julio Lopez (4-1) earned the win on the hill for only allowing the Falcons to one run on four hits, while striking out four. Freshman pitcher Dennis Stevenson closed out game with his first save on the mound.

The Vikings brought the bats in bottom of the second inning with sophomore left fielder Andrew Schmitt hitting a double to center field to score in sophomore third baseman Chris Rubottom for the Vikings' first run.

In the third inning, sophomore short stop Travis Aversa got on base with a single and proceeded to steal second base, and then advanced to home on a Falcon error. The Vikings continued the rally with two more runs from sophomore designated hitter David Balboa and sophomore third baseman Robert Barham to lead Cerritos 4-0.

The Falcons came back in the top of the fourth with a home run to put themselves on the board, but then Barham doubled for three RBI in the bottom of the fifth to extend the Vikings' lead to 7-1. Rubottom then smashed an RBI single to bring in Barham to close out the inning with the 8-1 lead.

Freshman right fielder Zach Rivas wasn't finished yet as he homered to left field for three RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Falcons retaliated in the top of the eighth with a sacrifice fly, but it wasn't enough and the Vikings took home the 11-2 conference win.

The Long Beach City College baseball team will be back in action on Monday, Apr. 15 at Pierce College at 2:30 p.m.