The Cerritos Dons will head out on the road to challenge the Bellflower Buccaneers at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Cerritos has six straight wins, Bellflower has eight straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Cerritos barely beat Oxford Academy the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Dons' pitchers stepped up to hand the Patriots a 12-0 shutout on Thursday. The result was nothing new for the Dons, who have now won six games by six runs or more so far this season.
Jayce Aragon was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
In other pitching news, Noah Sarno looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two hits in five consecutive appearances.
Eli Sarno
| 04/02/26 @ Oxford Academy | 3 |
| 03/31/26 vs Oxford Academy | 1 |
| 03/24/26 vs Artesia | 1 |
| 03/18/26 @ Garden Grove | 1 |
| 03/11/26 vs Long Beach Poly | 1 |
Back at the plate, Eli Sarno was excellent, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and three runs. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ryan Salas, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run.
Cerritos kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in seven consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Bellflower lost 7-1 to Gahr on Thursday.
Bellflower's loss dropped their record down to 6-12. As for Cerritos, their record now sits at 10-4.
Cerritos came up short against Bellflower when the teams last played back in April of 2018, falling 4-1. Can the Dons avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
