By Andrew Mata and Jaime Buenaventura
An ugly confrontation that continued in the parking lot Tuesday spoiled a heroic walk-off victory sparked by Dons freshman infielder Patrick Cromwell’s RBI single.
Cromwell’s only RBI in the bottom of the ninth inning led Santa Ana College to an 11-10 win against visiting Grossmont College.
“I’ve tried to implement passing the baton method by putting quality at bats together and pass it to the next guy so he can get a quality at bat too,” Head Coach Brian Harris said.
Cromwell had two hits and completed a key double play on defense.
The Griffins’ two errors helped the Dons jump to a 5-0 lead in the first inning.
But Griffins catcher Matt Kirk erased the lead with a game-tying grand slam in the third inning. It was Kirk’s first collegiate home run.
Two innings later, the Dons lost the lead when the Griffins added another run.
“We have to fix our mistakes, that’s been our season so far. We’re 4-4 but that’s due to our errors,” Grossmont Head Coach Randy Abshier said.
The Griffins lead was short-lived.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Dons strung together a double and three singles that lead to five runs.
Grossmont tied the game 10-10 in the seventh, setting up Cromwell’s walk-off heroics.
“We are a momentum team, and that’s when we score a lot of runs,” Harris said.
Both teams had to be separated after the game ended on the field and in the parking lot due to unsportsmanlike behavior on part of both teams.
The Dons next home game is Feb. 17 at 2 p.m.
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