| May 17, 2009 - Boxscore
Dons Advance to State Finals after Win over Palomar
SAN MARCOS, CA - The Santa Ana College baseball team upset #1 Palomar College 10-7 to advance to the 2009 California Community College State Championships held at Fresno City College May 23-25.
The Dons advance as the second seed from the South behind Orange Coast College and will face Diablo Valley College. It will be the Dons first trip to the finals since 1999.
The Dons (37-11) came out and scored in the first inning for the first time during the Super Regionals. Marcus Piazzisi and Matt Hart drew back-to-back walks to start the inning but Piazzisi was picked off at first.
Hart advanced to second on a single by Derek Eligio and scored in the next at-bat on a RBI-single by James Davis. Jake Eccles hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield later in the inning to score Eligio giving the Dons a 2-0 lead.
Palomar (36-13-1) came back in the top of the second with a run when Matt Hubbard hit a one-out single to right field and moved to second on B.K. Santy's single up the middle. Tyler Buchanan moved both runners over with a bunt single and Hubbard later scored on a RBI-ground out by Tyler Smith.
The Dons answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the second to extend their lead to 3-1. Julian Duran led the inning off with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by TJ Yasuhara. Duran scored in the next at-bat on a RBI-single by Piazzisi.
Palomar continued the exchange of runs in the third inning when Alfonso Casillas drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a double by Matt Carvutto. Webb scored Casillas when he ground out to second base, cutting the lead to 3-2.
The Dons broke the one-run exchange in the bottom of the third when Chris Miller drew a one-out walk and Eccles followed with an infield single. Kyle Hardman followed with his second three-run home run in as many games to put the Dons up 6-2. Cory Goodchild, who came in for an injured Yasuhara, continued the rally with a two-out double and later scored when Piazzisi reached on an error.
The Dons extended their lead to 8-2 in the sixth inning when Piazzisi led the inning off with an infield single, moved to second on a wild pitch and later to third on a sacrifice bunt by Hart. Piazzisi eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Eligio.
The score remained 8-2 going into the eighth inning when Palomar made a late run. The Comets went on to score five runs on four hits aided by three walks to cut the lead to 8-7. Friday's starter, Brian Peacock, came in to get the final out as he struck out Casillas who started the rally with a double.
Derek Eligio gave the Dons some extra breathing room in the bottom of the eighth inning with a two-run home run. He scored Piazzisi on the play who led the inning off with a walk.
Peacock struck out the first two batters in the top of the ninth before giving up a single through the hole on the left side. Needing one out to close the game, Peacock got Santy to ground out to short stop sending the Dons to the finals.
Nick Capito improved to 12-2 on the season as he picked up the win. He pitched 7 2/3 innings allowing five runs on 10 hits while striking out four batters. Peacock picked up his second save of the season as he pitched 1 1/3 innings while holding Palomar scoreless on two hits with three strikeouts.
NEXT: Santa Ana vs Diablo Valley College, Saturday, May 23 at 12:00 p.m. at Fresno City College |
