Clay ArrittThe Santa Ana Dons struck hard and early, scoring five runs in the first to set the tone for a 9-6 victory to clinch the series against the reigning conference champion Cypress Chargers.
The Dons dropped game one to the Chargers before coming back to win games two and three to improve their conference record to 13-2 and overall record to 30-3-1.
“To see them bounce back and play the way they did, and start hot, it speaks volumes for the group,” head coach Tom Nilles said. “They have a singular goal, and they’re intent on achieving it.”
The goal is clear for the Dons: their first Orange Empire Conference championship since 2014.
They currently hold a two-game conference lead with six games to go. “We expect to win every game,” said Coach Nilles.
After a clean top of the first inning from Dons’ starting pitcher Zach Ireland, lead-off hitting shortstop Jack Mueller would start the bottom of the first with a seven-pitch walk before advancing to second and third on consecutive wild pitches.
Sophomore left-fielder Nathaniel Williams was then able to drive him in with a single up the middle.
Up next was sophomore designated-hitter Barrett Ronson. In a 2-1 count, he was able to go the other way for a two-run home run to give the Dons an early 3-0 lead.
“It was good to jump on them early,” said Ronson. “I thought the home run helped us a lot, and it was able to help us carry the momentum to score more runs.”
Two hitters later, it was sophomore third-baseman Ken Tomitaka who carried over that momentum at the plate with a man on. Tomitaka hit what would end up being the first of two home runs during the game to left-center field to make it 5-0 in the first inning.
“It set us off on the right tone, and it kind of shell-shocked them,” said Coach Nilles.
Ireland would be thrilled with the early lead, firing off two more scoreless innings in the second and third as the Dons’ offense continued to roll.
“I think we’ve scored 10 runs in more games than we haven’t,” said Ireland. “So it’s been a lot of fun to go and pitch behind an offense that you know is going to give you a chance to win the game.”
After Santa Ana scored two more in the second, Tomitaka would lead off the bottom of the third. On the second pitch of the at-bat, he hit a high fly ball down the left field line, just hooking it inside the left-field foul pole for his second homer of the game to extend the Dons’ lead to 8-0.
“It’s going back and sticking to the process and not trying to do too much,” said Tomitaka. “I knew after the first homer off the fastball they were going to attack me with something else. So I just sat off-speed and didn’t try to do too much with it.”
The Chargers drew closer in the fourth, as they scored three runs, including two on a home run from center-fielder Ty Peters. One run was unearned because of a throwing error from Tomitaka to start the inning.
Cypress got one more in the fifth with another unearned run against Ireland, when he was unable to field a comebacker.
Santa Ana made two more errors in the top of the sixth inning, but was able to keep Cypress off the board, thanks in part to a caught stealing from sophomore catcher Carlos Morales.
Sophomore pitcher Jack Fishel relieved Ireland in the sixth after he made a second error. Fishel would stop the bleeding, going an inning and a third without giving up a run. Ireland would earn the win, improving his record on the season to an impressive 6-0.
Cypress would add two more runs on a home run in the ninth, but sophomore pitcher Colin Galvin was able to get the final six outs of the game for the Dons, as they would end up victorious by a final of 9-6.
After losing game one 14-5, Santa Ana was able to show their ability to bounce back, winning game two 11-1 before picking up the rubber match. “It shows the character and the resilience of the guys. These guys want to win,” said Ireland. “We have an OEC championship that everybody’s locked in and trying to get. So it’s important to bounce back, especially when you go down in the first game.”
The penultimate series for the Dons begins Tuesday against the Irvine Valley Lasers at Don Sneddon Field at 2 p.m.
“We just got to take it one game at a time,” Ronson said. “I know they’re saying the championship is right in front of us, but we can’t really think about that too much. It’s taking one game at a time.”
