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Dons Lose Close Game to Southwestern in Last Game
SANTA ANA, CA - The Santa Ana College (SAC) baseball team needed two wins to advance to the Final Four in Fresno and got half way there. The Dons jumped on Southwestern College in the morning game with a 13-9 victory to force the final game. The teams battled back and forth before Southwestern came out on top with an 11-9 victory.
Game One
Matt Allen (Orange HS) led the morning game off with a double to right-center field and later advanced to third on a passed ball. Travis Leverson (Chaparral HS) then walked followed by a RBI single from Casey Rihn (La Habra HS) scoring Allen to put the Dons up 1-0. Leverson later scored on a sacrifice fly by Derek Eligio (Esperanza HS).
Southwestern quickly answered in the top of the second and took a 5-2 lead on the Dons with two home runs. Ryan Fariss hit a solo home run and Omar Manzanarez hit a grand slam.
However, the lead didn't last long. SAC batted around the order and seven of the eleven batters scored. Caleb Boyer (Temecula Valley HS) led the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Marcus Piazzisi (El Dorado HS). Nate Bridges (Villa Park HS) reached on a single and Allen cleared the bases with a two-run double.
Leverson followed with a triple that scored Allen and later scored on a double by Kyle Hardman (Mission Viejo HS). Rihn, who walked, and Hardman both scored on a three-run home run by Eligio to cap off the scoring.
Southwestern chipped into the lead with two runs in the third to make the score 9-7. However, the Jaguars wouldn't score again until the sixth inning as Henry Buenrostro (Santa Ana HS) entered the game in relief of starter Nick Capito (La Quinta HS). Buenrostro allowed four runs, two earned, on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched.
The Dons flexed their power in the sixth inning with four solo home runs. Rihn hit the first pitch of the inning out of the park to left-center field. After the next two batters were retired, Crispin Tarango (Diamond Bar HS), James Davis (Garden Grove HS) and Piazzisi hit three home runs in a row to put the Dons up 13-8.
Southwestern scored once more in the eighth inning but Eric Cendejas (Corona HS) pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to save the game for the Dons. Buenrostro improved to 3-0 with the win.
Game Two
James Davis gave the Dons a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning with a two-run home run that also scored Crispin Tarango who reached on a single to center field. The home run was the 11th of the season for Davis and his third in the Super Regionals.
Southwestern came back to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning scoring three runs on three hits in the inning including Edgar Molina's two-run double to left field.
The Dons retook the lead in the top of the fourth inning by a score of 4-2. Davis led the inning off with a single through the middle of the infield and later scored on Kyle Ammons' (Huntington Beach HS) two-run home run.
The Jaguars tied the game in the bottom of the fourth at 4-4 when Taylor Comford scored from third base on a fielding error. He reached on a lead-off single through the middle of the infield.
Matt Allen hit a one-out single in the top of the sixth inning to spark the Dons' next rally. He later advanced to third on a single by Casey Rihn. Allen and Rihn both scored in the next at bat when Kyle Hardman hit a two-run single through the middle of the infield to put the Dons up 6-4.
Southwestern came back to take a 7-6 lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth on just one hit. The Jaguars extended their lead to 9-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning as they scored two runs on two hits and an error.
Allen then led off the top of the eighth inning with a double to left field followed by a RBI triple by Travis Leverson to cut the lead to 9-7. Rihn walked followed by a RBI double by Hardman that scored Leverson to pull the Dons within one. Derek Eligio then hit a RBI ground-out to short stop that scored Rihn to tie the game at 9-9.
In the bottom half of the eighth inning the Dons were able to get the first two outs but failed to get the third out before Southwestern scored two runs to take an 11-9 lead.
In their final at bat, the Dons were unable to get a base runner passed second base as they lost to Southwestern. The loss ends the Dons season and the Jaguars have advanced to the Final Four in Fresno. They will join Riverside College, West Valley College and Sierra College. |
