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PCC gave up a 2-1 lead to Cerritos College on Thursday afternoon at Nancy Kelly Field, losing the game with a final score of 6-2. It is the Lancers’ sixth South Coast Conference loss this season.
Cerritos (20-3, 7-0) exploded in the fifth inning with five runs, including a two-run home run from Falcons catcher Samantha Vaaulu who went 1-2 with two walks.
Fundamental errors plagued the Lancers (5-11, 1-6), who could not hold their lead for long.
“I think we had it in the beginning,” said PCC pitcher Samantha Gontol. “But we just had mental errors.I shouldn’t have pitched it high to her.”
Though Cerritos scored first, the Lancers had a productive fourth inning. Second baseman Lupita Contreras had a sacrifice bunt which moved over outfielder Marissa Rangel from first base to second. Amber Frame’s RBI double then scored the Lancers’ first run and a passed ball from Falcon pitcher Jessica Lozano immediately followed, bringing in Frame to make the score 2-1.
But the fifth inning proved to be a struggle from the start. “We made some mistakes that had been the same mistakes that we’ve been making for awhile now,” said Head Coach Elaine Martinez. “I believe that that was the cause of the turn of events.”
It began when Gontol, who suffered an injury earlier in the game when a come-backer struck her foot, gave up a single, double and triple along with Vaaulu’s home run.
Other mistakes included communication problems, which proved to be detrimental for the Lancers. There was some confusion amongst the Lancers infield that led to an obstruction call in favor of Cerritos.
“We had a couple of calls with obstruction and that left runners safe when they were out and that prolongs the inning,” said Martinez of their defensive struggles. “There were a couple of times that we thought we should’ve had a play somewhere.and we didn’t go for it. We didn’t get any outs out of it at all so communication and just some defensively not smart plays; that just kind of hurt us.”
The Lancers’ next SCC matchup is against visiting Long Beach City College at Brookside Park on Tuesday.

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