Community College Baseball : Worthington Beats Cypress With Hit in Bottom of 10th

When Cerritos College’s Craig Worthington stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning of Saturday afternoon’s South Coast Conference game against Cypress, it was everyone’s cue to finish their hot dogs, pack up their suntan oil and go home.

Worthington is one of the best community college hitters in Southern California, and he’s at his best in crucial situations. So, it was no surprise when he lined a two-out single into left-center field to score pinch-runner Dennis Gonzales with the decisive run in the Falcons’ 4-3 win over the Chargers on a warm day at Norwalk.

“We have other guys who hit in the clutch, but no one like Craig,” Cerritos Coach George Horton said. “He won’t ever succumb to pressure.”

In this game between first-place Cerritos (8-0 in conference, 18-1 overall) and second-place Cypress (6-2, 12-6), the Chargers put pressure on Cerritos early and should have won. But the Falcons, aided by a few critical Cypress mistakes, managed to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win their 17th consecutive game.

Two of Cypress’ biggest mistakes were committed by third baseman Chris Kocman. Kocman, after doubling in a run in the first inning, was picked off second by Cerritos pitcher John Rodriguez.

In the 10th, Kocman made an error on Mike Benjamin’s soft line drive with one out and a runner at first that led to the unearned run that won the game. Cypress pitcher Jim Bennet (3-2) then struck out Ron Ewart for the second out, but Worthington came through with his hit to complete Cerritos’ comeback.

Cypress took a 1-0 lead in the first. Mark Baca led off with a single against Rodriguez. Kocman doubled up the alley in left-center to score Baca, but after James Jackle reached on an error, Kocman was caught leaning by Rodriguez’s deceptive move and was picked off. John Morin then hit into a force play and was picked off first base for the third out.

The Chargers added another run in the second. Bert Lizarraga led off with a single and scored on Guillermo Roses’ double to center field. Cypress made it 3-0 in the top of the third with an unearned run. Jackle was safe on an error by Worthington and eventually scored on Lizarraga’s sacrifice fly.

Cerritos, up to that point powerless at the plate, started to rally. It scored twice in the bottom of the third when Ever Magallanes was hit by a pitch, Jeff Robinson walked and Ewart doubled to deep right to cut the Cypress lead to 3-2.

The Falcons tied it in the sixth when Worthington, whose batting average is near .500, hit a Bennet curveball over the fence in left field for his fourth home run of the year.

Bennet went the distance and pitched a strong game. He allowed eight hits, and induced Cerritos to ground out 14 times. Dave Serrano pitched the final three innings for Cerritos to get the win and improve his record to 7-0.

In other South Coast Conference action:

Santa Ana 9, Golden West 5--Gary Thomason went 3 for 5 and drove in four runs to lead the host Dons (5-3) past the Rustlers (5-3). Santa Ana trailed, 5-3, going into the bottom of the sixth inning when it scored four times to take the lead for good. The key hit was a two-run double by Thomason, who added a two-run homer in the eighth.

Mike Schwabe won to improve his record to 6-2, and Gary Pifer worked 2 innings to earn his first save. Gary Buckels was the loser in relief. Keith Kaub went 3 for 5 to lead Golden West and teammate Andy Mota added two hits.

Compton 5, Saddleback 2--The host Tartars scored three runs in the first inning to win for the first time after seven losses in conference play. Saddleback is 3-4 in conference.