Softball: Vikings nearly knock off Cerritos, fall 7-6 to close regular season home schedule

The Long Beach City College softball team came up on the short end of a thrilling South Coast Conference contest as the Vikings were edged 7-6 by rival Cerritos College on Tuesday at LBCC in their final regular season home game of 2011.

The loss dropped Long Beach to 22-15-1 overall and 11-9 in the SCC while Cerritos remains on top of the conference standings at 19-1 and 30-8 overall.

Sophomore third baseman Melissa McDougall (Millikan HS) smashed a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game at 5-5, but shaky defense by the Vikings late and an impressive play Cerritos second baseman Alexxa Sanabria helped propel the Falcons to the win.
 
Cerritos looked to be on its way to an easy victory over the Vikings after scoring four runs in the top of the second off LBCC freshman starting pitcher Justine Meddings (Kennedy HS). Sanabria lined a two-run double and Jackie Flores followed with a two-run homerun to put the Falcons on top.

Long Beach answered with a run in the bottom of the second. The Vikings loaded the bases with one out and forced in a run with freshman center fielder Danielle Hannan's fielder's choice grounder.

The Falcons came right back to score another run in the third. Gabby Villareal's RBI double drove in Jessica Roper to give Cerritos a 5-1 lead.

The Vikings put together the big inning it needed in the fourth. Sophomore left fielder Karina Veit (Newport Harbor HS) was hit by Cerritos starter Jessica Lozano to lead off the inning. Sophomore second baseman Desiree Villegas (El Rancho HS) laid down a bunt for a single, and sophomore catcher Brittney Holden (Big Bear HS) walked to load the bases.

After a strikeout by freshman designated player Cassie Garcia (Banning HS), McDougall came to the plate with two outs. She then lifted a 2-2 pitch from Lozano over the left-center field fence for her first homerun of the season to set off the crowd and the LBCC bench and tie the game at 5-5.

But Cerritos went ahead for good in the top of the sixth. Shawnee Kirk led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Flores followed with a RBI single to left to put the Falcons up 6-5 and drive Meddings from the pitcher's circle.

Freshman reliever Angela Arias (Western HS) came in and promptly struck out Courtney Priddie for the second out. Natalie Garcia extended the inning with a single to load the bases. Arias appeared to be on her way out of the inning, but McDougall couldn't handle Briana Quintana's grounder which allowed Flores to score.

The Vikings made one final push in the bottom of the sixth. Singles by Garcia and sophomore shortstop Melissa Schaefer (El Segundo HS), and a walk freshman pinch hitter Melisa Sponholz loaded the bases. Villareal, in the circle in relief of Lozano, nearly escaped the inning, but a two-out error by Flores at first base allowed Garcia to come in and put Long Beach down by one at 7-6.

The play of the game was turned in by Sanabria in the following at bat. Villegas smacked a line drive that looked like would reach the outfield for a base hit, but Sanabria leaped at the edge of the infield to snag the liner and save a pair of runs and the game for the Falcons.

Meddings picked up the loss for Long Beach to fall to 12-7 overall. She allowed six earned runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. She struck out four and walked four.

McDougall was 1 for 2 with the grand slam and 4 RBI. Garcia was 2 for 4 at the plate and scored a pair of runs.

Villareal (3-3) earned the win in relief. She allowed one unearned run and two hits over the final four innings. Flores went 2 for 2 with 3 RBI to lead the Falcons' offense.

Long Beach closes out the regular season on Tuesday (Apr 26) when it travels to El Camino College Compton Center for a 3 p.m. SCC contest.