The past two seasons, La Mirada slinked away from the Cerritos campus with 3-2 victories, and in the 2007 season the CIF finalists squeeked by the Dons, 5-4, at home.

So before the Bellflower clashes, the Matadores have one more heavy mettle to prove in Friday's rematch: can they avoid a fourth straight season of seeing a ghost in frightening one-run outcomes against Cerritos?

Probably, if Wednesday's performance was any indication.  The offense went 21-for-43, the defense was errorless and senior righthander Kyle Harper remained dominant spanning the past two league campaigns.

Lancaster, the junior designated hitter, was indeed dominant from the leadoff spot again, raising his season average to .455 with four ropes and three RBI before coach Kim Brooks pulled him and all but two starters.  Lancaster would have had a chance to get six hits, as his senior replacement, John Molloy (.551), remained scorching hot with a walk and a hit to improve to 6-for-6 in his last five appearances.  Damn, dude!

La Mirada scored in every inning but the sixth and batted through the lineup three times, the first time in a seven-run second inning that cast away any early doubts. 

Senior catcher Nick Mandry kept up his mind-boggling pace with two more linedrives, one leading to his 32nd RBI of the season, senior rightfielder Jesse McHenry had a double and two singles and scored three runs.  Senior firstbaseman Mike Piazza, in and out of the lineup all year with nagging injuries, continued to thaw after a frigid start with two hits.

Backup firstbaseman Mason Peacock played a fine game with a walk, a hit, two runs scored and a dig while junior reserve thirdbaseman Nolan Anderson notched his second straight hit, an impressive two-run double to rightfield in La Mirada's five-run fifth. 

In the third, double machine Karl Perez smoked one that hit the base of the leftcenter fence for a run-scoring two-bagger, his team-leading eighth one.  Perez had two RBI, as did senior leftfielder J.T. Torres on a first-pitch, drillled single to center in the second.

Harper, the reigning Suburban League Pitcher of the Year, improved his league mark to 10-1 over the past two seasons, including 5-0 this year.  In four swift innings, he allowed just one run on three hits and two base on balls.

His only inning of trouble was in the third when Cerritos loaded the bases with no outs.  But a skillful play from Gold Glove shortstop Andres Rodriguez on a tough hop while floating toward the secondbase bag provided a double play to limit the damage.  Junior thirdbaseman Nick Mata's growth at the plate and field continued to skyrocket with a nice defensive play on a tough, first-inning hopper.

Alex Pedroza struck out three in two innings and Jordan Rosenberg, in the ultimate mop-up role with an 18-run lead and facing the bottom three hitters, fanned a pair in a perfect seventh.