It was a topsy-turvy semester for the Dons this spring, as women led the way and the men struggled to find success. The sophomore duo of Mikelle Taylor and Viridiana Serrano were ranked the No.1 duo in the state and despite a first-round elimination in the playoffs—softball finished second in the conference with a record of 15-6. Success wasn’t limited for the women as three Dons from the baseball team were honored on the Orange Empire All-Conference first team.
1. Beach Volleyball
After qualifying for the 2018 State Championships, Viridiana Serrano and Mikelle Taylor took a road trip to West Valley College to compete against the top 32 pairs in the state.
Serrano and Taylor were placed as a 16th seed and placed in pool number three against pairs form Long Beach City, Palomar and Cabrillo. The pair battled but in the end went 0-3 to end their season in the round of 32.
Unfortunately all good stories come to an end. The duo started out 14-0 and were ranked the No. 1 duo in the state by collegebeachvb.com for most of the season. The pair has left a great foundation for Santa Ana volleyball and will both be transferring on to universities in the fall.
2. Men’s Track
Sophomore Eric Jimenez qualified for two events at the state championships being held at Bakersfield college May 18 and 19.
Jimenez placed fourth in the SoCal Regional Finals in the 10,000-meter race timing in at 32:28.65. Later in the meet, he followed with a third-place finish in the 5,000-meter event, with a time of 15:07.72 to qualify for the second consecutive year.
The Dons track team will come out support Jimenez in hopes of bringing a championship back to Santa Ana.
3. Baseball
The Dons’ ended its season placing fifth in the OEC with an overall record of 22-18 and a conference record of 10-11. The Dons missed out on the playoffs this season despite a late season surge.
Sophomores Andrew Martinez, Bryan Leef and Nathan Flores were placed on the OEC All-Conference First team and shortstop Juan Gonzalez was recognized on the second team
Offense was key for Santa Ana this season tallying 430 hits, this season placing second in the conference only behind Cypress’ 441 hits. Santa Ana had a team batting average of .300, the second best in the conference.
The Dons’ pitching staff allowed the most home runs in the conference (24) and had a team ERA of 4.10, which was fourth worst.
Most of the sophomores are on their way out and will compete at the four year level in the fall.
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