Major playoff win by the Dons after first inning stumble

After nine innings of hard work, the Santa Ana Dons defeated the Orange Coast Pirates in a landslide 17-8 victory on Friday in their first round of the 3C2A Regional Playoffs.

It was an Orange Empire Conference rematch, where Santa Ana took all three against Orange Coast back in March.

The Pirates started off hot with five runs in the first inning. As a result, Dons starting pitcher Andrew Phillips was pulled in the first inning. “It was a rough one,” Phillips said. “But coach decided to pull me early and get me ready for Sunday.”

Things were looking grim for the Dons until Nikko Paoletto hit a home run, plating three runs to cut the score to 5-4 in the bottom of the first.

Nikko Paoletto’s three run homer at the bottom of the first rallied the Dons to a dominant victory. Photo by Dylan Burch / el Don

“Just sticking with my approach, not trying to get too big, and just trying to keep the line moving,” Paoletto said. “I think we have one of the best lineups in the state.

The action continued in the second inning, in which the Pirates added one more run, but the Dons retaliated with five more runs in the bottom of the inning to put them ahead for good.

Evan Reiter delivered a ground ball through the left side to load the bases for Paoletto. He came through again with another great hit, driving in two. Ken Tomitaka followed with a double, allowing both Reiter and Paoletto to score, improving the Dons’ lead to 9-6.

The scoring streak continued for Santa Ana, with Reiter and Paoletto delivering once again with run-scoring hits in the bottom of the sixth inning, padding the lead to 17-6. The pair would combine for 10 runs batted in.

Orange Coast’s explosive first inning was not enough as Santa Ana overwhelmed their offense onwards. Photo by Dylan Burch / el Don

The rest of the game remained scoreless for the Dons, with the Pirates managing to score two more times, once in the seventh and once in the ninth. It wasn’t nearly enough to catch up to the lead amassed by the Dons.

“When you have good players, and they buy into the things you’re trying to get them to do,” head coach Tom Nilles said. “That’s how you win games.”

The Dons will be playing in a best of three series against the Cerro Coso Coyotes this weekend, with the winner advancing further into the playoffs.