Artemis ShmuelThe Santa Ana Dons faced off against the Golden West Rustlers during sophomore night in their final game of the season, winning in dominant fashion with a 6-1 final score on April 23rd.
The first two innings were scoreless, before each team scored in the third. It was an RBI base hit for freshman Nevaeh Gomez for the Dons.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth inning that the Dons scored again, scoring three runs thanks to a passed ball and base hits from Kalani Gonzales and Heneli Urena.
Santa Ana added two more in the sixth with a triple from Nayelli De Jesus and another run scoring hit from Gomez.
Ihilani Berard kept the batters at bay with her powerful pitching prowess. The star freshman pitcher didn’t get much past the Rustlers’ hitters, but it didn’t matter because nearly every time Golden West managed to make contact, they were stopped by the excellent fielding abilities of the Dons. They did it all in this one, whether it was catching pop-ups or fielding ground balls and throwing to first base before Golden West could reach base.
Due to Golden West’s catcher literally dropping the ball, there was a major pickle between first and second base, giving Berard the perfect distraction to run home from third base. This momentum propelled the Dons’ offense to get rolling. It was pure scoring from here on out.
“I’m just happy we won. This is a good way to end the season. It’s always nice to win your last game, head coach Marissa Ross said. “But then also on sophomore day. So I’m excited for them.”
Santa Ana will be happy to bring back Berard for her sophomore season, who led the team in multiple offensive and pitching categories. “It feels good. I’m so happy right now,” she said after the win. “This season had been tough for the team, but I’m really glad that we were able to just end it off on a good note, especially on our sophomore night.”
It was the final game for four Dons’ sophomores. Gonzales, Urena, Gracie Barrios and Valerie Villa will be saying farewell to Santa Ana College.
