Offensive onslaught leads Dons over Pirates

Santa Ana faced off against Orange Coast College in what turned out to be a 17-6 landslide victory in favor of the Dons. This marks their fifth straight win, including a three-game sweep of OCC to open up conference play.

“Obviously it’s great to get any conference win, it’s tough,” said head coach Tom Nilles. “We capitalized on our opportunities, and hopefully, it carries over, and we will play better moving forward.”

The Pirates opened up the scoring with two runs in the top of the first inning off of a Dons error, but quickly responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.

Catcher and designated hitter Connor Dietsch has batted .380 to start the season with three home runs. Photo by Brandon Rowley / el Don

The Dons started to pull away in the second inning, in large part due to a three-run double from Sophomore Connor Dietsch. He would close out the day going 3-4 with five RBIs and four runs of his own.

“I’ve been doing a lot better sticking to my approach and just trusting what I’m capable of,” said Dietsch. “I was able to get one to fall in the second and help my team out.”

Freshman pitcher Kalani Santos earned his third win of the season, allowing only two earned runs over six innings, while tallying four strikeouts. Despite the slow start in the first inning, Santos recovered well, not allowing another run until the fifth.

Santos has earned a 3-1 record through his freshman season so far. Photo by Brandon Rowley / el Don

“It’s a little bit of feeling out their offense, seeing them for the first time and then making an adjustment from there,” said Santos. “I let the defense work, Christian Altamirano and Jack Mueller made a lot of good plays today up the middle, so I think that was just a key takeaway.”

Mueller, who has been leading off for the Dons while playing second base, has continued his hot hitting, going 4-6 on the day and batting .357 this season. In the fifth inning, he made an amazing diving stop, turning it into a double play in a bases loaded situation.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it, it just kinda comes as second nature, you do what your instincts tell you to do,” said Mueller. “The ball came up the middle, so you know kind of just played out, flipped it to Christian and he made a good throw to first.”

Mueller, Sanchez and Altamirano turned two double plays in Saturday’s game. Photo by Brandon Rowley / el Don

The Dons have started the season with some injuries, including sophomore first baseman Kian Sanchez, who has returned in stellar form, going 3-4 with a three-run home run in the fourth inning

“It’s been good to be back,” says Sanchez. “I was out for about four weeks and it’s just good to be back out here with the guys. I attribute [my success] to what I’ve been doing at practice, and the approach that I’ve had.”

This dominant performance has the Dons feeling confident going into conference play, hoping to win the Orange Empire Conference for the first time since 2014.

Dietsch beating the throw out, sliding home for his fourth run of the day. Photo by Brandon Rowley / el Don

“We need to keep the momentum going,” said Dietsch. “Enjoy this one tonight, but be able to reset next week, because each week matters in this conference.”

Santa Ana College will play Irvine Valley College in another three-game series, being home on Friday at 1 p.m., trying to keep their winning streak alive.