Fullerton’s baseball team earned its third consecutive win with a victory against Cerritos at Hornet Field on Feb. 12, 2026.
The Hornets opened up the first inning with an RBI double into the right-center field gap by first baseman Carlos Barrios. Catcher Nate Pone scored all the way from first base on the play to make it 1-0 Fullerton.
In the second inning, Fullerton added to their lead. With the bases loaded and two outs, Jake Starr came up to the plate. After swinging and missing at an outside pitch for strike two, Head Coach Chad Baum told Starr to use his balance to get the ball. As a result, Starr was able to drive in Fullerton’s second run with an infield RBI single that hit off the pitcher’s glove, and trickled to the shortstop Tyler Peshke, who had no play.
Then shortstop Diego Vasquez, on a 3-2 count, sat on a hanging curve ball and hit a flare into left field for an RBI single. On the play, the Hornets scored another run, as the ball ricocheted off left fielder Luke Crowder’s glove, making it 4-0 Fullerton.
“We had a great offensive approach. [Nolan Patterson] was the Conference Pitcher of the Year last year, and we just used it to our advantage. We knew he was gonna throw a lot of off-speed, and we did a phenomenal job of taking good swings,” said Baum.
Fullerton added two more runs on Barrios 2-run RBI single to make it 6-0.
In the fourth inning, with runners on first and second, Vazquez roped a 2-run RBI triple into the right-center field gap to make it 8-0 Fullerton.
“Honestly, I wasn’t looking for a pitch. I was looking in my zone for anything close. I was ready to fight it,” said Vasquez. “I think our approach was really good today. We were taking the pitches we needed to take, and we’re executing on the pitches they came in on, and we did damage.”
In the top half of the sixth inning, the Falcons responded with runs of their own. Fullerton relief pitcher Enrique Hernandez came in for Will Valenzuela after he went five strong innings of shutout baseball. Fullerton leading 10-0, Cerritos loaded the bases before scoring their first run on a wild pitch. After the Falcons catcher Alejandro Rosas drove in a run with an RBI single to right, Hudson Comer came up to the plate with runners on the corners.
On a 2-2 count, smashed a ball into left-center field for a three-run homer to trim the Hornets’ lead to 10-5. Fullerton’s Nate Baughman came out of the bullpen and limited the damage. He got the Falcons designated hitter Brody Cuellar to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play ball.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Hornets put the game out of reach. Vasquez started the rally with an RBI double to right, driving in Luke Viola. Cerritos relief pitcher Jacob Searles came in to face Barrios, who singled through the left side for a 2-run RBI single. James Reveles singled to right field, driving in Barrios to make it 14-5, Fullerton.
A few batters later, with Fullerton leading 15-5, Luke Viola drove in the final run with an infield RBI single to the third baseman, as the throw sailed out of play, scoring Reveles. That made it 16-5.
In the ninth inning, Fullerton relief pitcher Nico Rodriguez retired all three batters he faced. He struck out Wyatt Ormonde. Rosas followed that to line out to center field. Comer grounded to third baseman Hunter Billingsley to end the game.
The Hornets will travel to L.A. Harbor on Friday, Feb. 13, for another non-conference matchup. Game time is at 2 p.m.
