Dons comeback to tie in final inning
Santa Ana College tied Cerritos College 11-11 on Feb. 10 after four hours of gameplay and coming back in the final inning. In the top of the ninth, the Dons gave up a lead and allowed eight runs but also answered back in their at-bat with six hits and five runs. After the Falcons got the third out, the match was ended due to there not being enough daylight. This final inning was crucial for the Dons to maintain their undefeated record.
The Dons opened scoring in the second inning with sophomore catcher Sebastian McSherry hitting a solo home run into left field in his first at-bat of the game.
In the third inning, the Dons didn’t slow down at the plate as sophomore infielder Cedrick Perez hit a home run with a runner on base.
For the first three innings sophomore pitcher Chase Hennessey only allowed one hit.
The Falcons woke up at the plate in the fourth inning and tied the game 3-3. Hennessey struggled to get out of this inning and the Falcons took advantage by scoring three runs.
Even though the Dons struggled in the previous inning, the bottom of the fifth had an important at-bat from the Dons. Sophomore outfielder Kyle Morrell hit a triple into right field. This at-bat brought in two runs for the Dons to put them up 5-3.
In the sixth inning, the Dons added a run after the umpire called a balk while freshman outfielder Scotty Young was at third base. Young walked across home plate to put Santa Ana ahead with a score of 6-3.
Although Santa Ana had a comfortable lead, they lost it in the final inning. The away team got eight runs past the Dons. Sophomore pitcher Emmanuel Niebla received five runs and freshman pitcher Matt Schavone allowed three runs. The Dons went into the bottom of the ninth being down with a score of 11-6.
Santa Ana had a lot of ground to make up to not lose their first game of the season. Perez started the comeback for the Dons with a double hit into left field. The next at-bat was McSherry who was walked by the Falcons pitcher. Freshman infielder Austin Haller hit a single to give the Dons a full house with no outs. With the bases loaded sophomore outfielder Kyle Morrell connected a single to bring Perez home and make the score 11-7.
The Dons kept the runs coming in with the bases loaded as freshman infielder Thomas Williams hit a single down the middle to bring in McSherry. With a score of 11-8, next up at the plate was freshman outfielder Christian Thompson who hit a two RBI single. This closed down the lead on the Falcons with a score of 11-10.
With a close game freshman outfielder Kyle Ashworth made the game even with a single to bring Young home.
The match was ruled as a tie because there was not enough daylight. The Dons have yet to lose and hold a record of 6-0-1.
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