February 25, 2026
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
Cerritos High head coach Matt Joyce saw his team get rained out of its first two games of the 2026 season, and so did Valley Christian High head coach Eric Slater. But the inclement weather from Feb. 16-19 gave way to perfect baseball conditions this past Monday evening.
It was on V.C.’s home diamond where senior pitcher Max Douglas was roughed up in the first two innings as the Dons collected half of their 10 hits, scored seven runs and benefited from a pair of errors as Cerritos had no problems with the Defenders in a 13-4 victory.
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Cerritos High senior first baseman Ryan Salas tries to stretch a single into a double in the top of the third inning but is thrown out with Valley Christian High senior shortstop Lucas Witt applying the tag. Salas would go three for four and drive in a run as the Dons defeated the Defenders 13-4 this past Monday in the season opener for both teams. PHOTO BY STEVE FERICEAN.
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“It was a really good game; I thought we played a complete game,” said Joyce. “Our pitchers battled, and I tell these guys all the time, there was no excuse, but we haven’t been on the field in a week. It was a little messy, but all in all, honestly, our offensive approach was great. I don’t think we swung at a lot of balls. We put the ball in play, and we didn’t strikeout too much, and we just played a complete game.”
Joyce went on to praise the pitching of senior starter Jacob Hoosac (three innings, four strikeouts, one hit), senior Dylan Davis (two innings, four hits, two walks, one run) and sophomore Noah Sarno (two innings, four hits, four strikeouts, three runs, three walks).
“They looked engaged; they looked ready to play, we just made some mistakes,” said Slater. “The goal is to play our best baseball at the end of the season versus the beginning of the season. So that’s what we want to do.”
The Cerritos offense gave Hoosac all the support he needed as junior second baseman Alex Laurin reached on an infield single on the second pitch of the game and Douglas hit senior left fielder Ethan Martiz three pitches later. Senior shortstop Jayce Aragon sacrificed both runners over but was safe on the first of three errors.
That was followed by a single to left field from junior designated hitter Julian Diaz and after the first out was recorded, Douglas walked junior catcher Jordan Ju. After senior center fielder Jacob Johnson sacrificed the runners, senior first baseman Ryan Salas singled in a pair of runs.
“We just didn’t throw a lot of strikes, didn’t make a couple of plays and an error and two walks is going to make it very difficult to recover from in a first inning, especially against a team that can move the ball all over the field and run the bases very well,” said Slater. “You have to be very close to perfect, and we just weren’t perfect today.”
In the next inning, Douglas walked Laurin and Martiz on full counts and a first pitch double from Diaz made it 7-0. The lead would increase to 9-0 in the fourth as Aragon was safe on an infield single with one out, stole second and third, and came home when Ju was safe on an error, which also allowed senior third baseman Justin Sagun, who was on base via a walk.
Meanwhile, Hoosac was nearly brilliant, facing 13 batters, throwing 57 pitches, and allowing a pair of runners to reach base. Junior center fielder Quintin Ekstrom led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk and doubled to the right field gap to lead off the third and Hoosac hit senior first baseman Isaac Morales with one out in the second.
“Ideally, I would like to get four [innings] out of him, but early,” said Joyce of Hoosac. “So I made a little rule this year. I’ve learned, after doing this for a while, early in the year, I don’t want to get anybody past 65 pitches because I think it comes back to haunt you later. It was a pitch count thing for me.”
The Defenders finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when senior catcher Nolan Dietz was safe on a bases loaded infield single, plating junior pinch runner Nathan Sevy, who was running for Morales after he produced a one-out single.
The Dons would tack on a run in the fifth, and three more in the sixth. Seven of the nine starters collected a hit, but the big star of the night was Salas, who was batting eighth. Salas went three for four, drove in five runs, all with two outs, scored once and saw a total of eight pitches in his four at-bats. His last hit was a three-run home run in the sixth inning.
“Ryan is a returning senior; he played a little bit for us last year in and out of the lineup,” said Joyce. “He’s a really, really good hitter. I put him back in the lineup there because he gets a little [nervous], so I figured that would be a real comfortable spot for him. He’s probably better than a [number] eight hitter, but it suits him pretty well.”
“Most of the time when he came up in that spot was a result of missed opportunities for us to end innings,” said Slater. “So whenever you extend the inning, you’re going to have opportunities for people to be successful. Most of those runs were unearned runs that we allowed them to take advantage of, and that’s the bottom line. We made mistakes and they took advantage of our mistakes. If we can start getting those mistakes off the board, the runs are going to start dwindling significantly.”
With the game in control at 13-1, Slater began to go to his bench, and it began with sophomore catcher Trevor Torres leading off the bottom of the sixth with a single and junior second baseman Luke Gisler getting a free pass. They would score when senior shortstop Lucas Witt brought in Torres with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly and Douglas scoring Gisler with an infield single.
Senior third baseman Cole Hefner would lead off the seventh with an infield single and eventually score the game’s last run on a fielder’s choice from Torres. V.C. got nine hits from nine different players.
“We have a lot of depth this year; a lot of guys who can swing the bat,” said Slater. “So it’s going to be awesome for them to determine what our lineup is going to look like in the future. And if they can build upon when those kids get the chances, and they are successful, it’s very good news for the coaching staff.”
This was the 18th meeting between the two city teams since 2005, and the win leveled the series at nine wins a piece. The teams had split the last eight encounters and neither team has won more than four straight games at any time. The last time they played, the Defenders were all over the Dons in a 12-2 contest in late April of 2024.
“They’re great guys,” said Joyce of V.C. “Literally, we didn’t even take a bus; we all drove here. We caravanned in a line of cars. They’re great guys [and have] a great program, and it’s super fun to play here. We love playing them. Last year, we didn’t get a chance to [play them], but I like playing them twice a year, every year, and I’d love to continue doing that.”
Cerritos visited Ocean View High on Feb. 26 and will host a trio of Moore League teams next week-Long Beach Cabrillo High on Monday, Lakewood High on Wednesday and Long Beach Poly High on Thursday. V.C. got into the win column this past Tuesday with a 19-6 victory at Santa Ana High and entertained St. Anthony High on Feb. 26. The Defenders, too, will host Poly on Monday before going to Burbank on Tuesday to face Providence High.
