A quarter century of dominance

Dons’ Baseball:

GOING TOW ROUNDS

For 25 years — the span of the current postseason system — the Dons have advanced to the Super Regionals of the California Community College Athletic Association Southern Regional Playoffs, winning three state championships and 16 conference titles along the way.

Considering how the Orange Empire Conference standings look – and with five games left – Santa Ana College will be out of the postseason seeding.

“We sure made things tough on ourselves,” Head Coach Don Sneddon said, “but we still have a chance.”

At the moment, the Dons are in a three-way tie for fifth place in the OEC with Cypress and Golden West. The Dons won the season series against the Rustlers, and own the tiebreaker. In the last two games of the season the team plays the Chargers, who defeated the Dons 10-2 on Don Sneddon Field March 14, scoring six runs off right-handed starter Matt Blanchard.

The fate of the team relies on its performance in the remaining games. The Dons continue OEC play Tuesday, hosting Irvine Valley College at 2 p.m.

MODEST PROPOSALS

The Dons are in danger of missing out on a 25-year tradition. As it stands, they are in a three-way tie for fifth place in the Orange Empire Conference with a 6-8 OEC record, possibly ending their quarter century postseason streak.

The Dons split its past 10 games, 5-5. Eight of the 10 were OEC contests in which the Dons went 3-5, including back-to-back losses to OEC No. 1 Fullerton and Orange Coast Colleges. The Pirates completed a regular season sweep of the Dons, its first since 1971.

Of the seven games left in the season, the Dons are 3-2 combined against the remaining opponents, with the losses coming at the hands of Riverside College and Saddleback College.

All the team can do is win as many games as possible.

“We are in the middle of this thing. We may not get to the top,” Head Coach Don Sneddon warned his players at a recent afternoon practice.