Baseball: Home run record broken, but Falcons fall, 10-6

File Photo: Wyatt Ormonde is the new Falcons home run champion, after he his his 11th and 12th against East Los Angeles
File Photo: Wyatt Ormonde is the new Falcons home run champion, after he his his 11th and 12th against East Los Angeles

There's a new home run king for the Cerritos College baseball program and his name is Wyatt Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS). Lost in a tough 10-6 setback against host East Los Angeles College in a critical South Coast Conference game, Ormonde, a freshman first baseman, blasted a pair of solo home runs and now has 12 for the season. He broke the old record of 11 set by Javier Fimbres (1989) and Brian Hunter (1987) and still has seven regular season games and the postseason to add to his total.

The Falcons (25-8, 12-5), who fell three games behind frontrunning Mt. San Antonio College (28-5, 15-2) for first place, opened up a 5-2 lead through the first three innings. Down 2-0 heading into the top of the second inning, Ormonde and sophomore outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) led off with consecutive walks. A single by sophomore second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) loaded the bases for freshman third baseman Mateo Heredia (El Segundo HS), who cleared the bases with a single and an error. Sophomore catcher Nate Gardenswartz (Long Beach Wilson HS) made it a 4-2 game with an RBI ground out.

With two outs in the top of the third inning, Ormonde tied the record with a solo blast to put the Falcons ahead, 5-2.

However, the Huskies scored three more times off sophomore starting pitcher Noah Andrunas (Gahr HS/UC Riverside), who tossed the first five innings and allowed five runs on 10 hits.

It was in the top of the sixth inning that Ormonde broke the record with his second solo home run. The Falcons had just one more hit the remainder of the game.

Freshman relief pitcher Jake Fowler (Los Alamitos HS) came on in the bottom of the sixth inning and surrendered four runs on five hits, as East LA opened up a 9-6 lead. Fowler (0-2) made way for freshman Troy Sonoqui (Long Beach Millikan HS), who pitched the final two innings and allowed one run on two hits.

Cerritos closes out their three-game series against East Los Angeles College on Saturday at noon at Kincaid Field.