No. 15 Hancock Baseball Falls 7-4 to No. 4 Cerritos to Finish Spring Classic

Despite three hits from Reed Odland and two from Ismael Hernandez, the Allan Hancock College baseball team ran out of magic on its home field and fell 7-4 to Cerritos on the final day of Hancock's annual Spring Classic Thursday. The Bulldogs' four-game winning streak ended as the No. 15 Bulldogs fell to 15-13 overall and 13-2 this season at home. Cerritos, the No. 4 team in Southern California, improved to 21-7.

An error in the top of the first inning helped Cerritos score two runs against Hancock pitcher Jeff Fernandes, who was making his first career start. The Bulldogs answered back in the bottom half as Quinntin Perez singled and stole second to start the rally. Jake Shusterich drove in Perez with a RBI-double. After Shusterich moved to third on a grounder, Hernandez tied it with a two-out, run-scoring single.

The Falcons regained the lead in the third when a run scored on a passed ball and added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to build a 5-2 lead.

Hancock inched closer in the sixth when Odland singled home Hernandez, and Tanner Thompson knocked in Josh Harmonay with a basehit to make it a 5-4 game. The Bulldogs would not get any closer as Cerritos scored once in the seventh and again in the eighth.

Hancock outhit Cerritos 11 to nine. Odland went 3-for-4 with one RBI, while Hernandez finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. Perez, Shusterich, Cordell Bowie, Harmonay, Brendan Gomez and Thompson had one hit apiece.

Cerritos catcher Andre Alvarez and center fielder Rollie Nichols both went 3-for-5. First baseman Michael Gonzalez drove in three runs.

Fernandes took the loss after allowing three runs and four hits over three innings. He walked one and struck out one. Freshman Zach Torra threw one shutout inning of relief. Shusterich allowed one run and walked two in one frame, while Shane Flaningham went two innings and allowed two unearned runs and two hits. Phillip Martin scattered two hits and an unearned run in the final two innings.

The Bulldogs finished the Spring Classic 2-1 with wins over East Los Angeles and Fresno City College. Hancock resumes its Western State Conference schedule Monday, April 2 at 3 p.m. when Cuesta College visits John Osborne. The Bulldogs will travel to Cuesta the following day. Cuesta also went 2-1 during the classic, defeating Cypress and Merced but falling to Cerritos. The Cougars are 14-12 overall and 3-5 in conference.