Gauchos get back on track

The Saddleback Gauchos were able to get back on track in the winning column after a two game slide with their victory over the Santa Ana Dons, 3-1, at Doug Fritz field Tuesday.

It was a tight game with both the Don’s starter and sophomore Trey Ferketic battling for six innings. The Don’s struck first on a hard hit ground ball to put them up, 1-0. In the bottom of the sixth the Gaucho bats came alive with a rally started by freshman Casey Worden’s double, breaking up the Don’s no hitter before eventually being brought around to score after back to back singles by freshman Tony Bone and sophomore Dylan Diaz to tie the game, 1-1. The Gauchos caught a break during their rally when the Don’s starter balked to allow Bone to come home safely and Diaz to advance to second, who scored on the next pitch with sophomore Louie Payetta’s RBI double to give the Gauchos the lead, 3-1.

Photo by: Matt Corkill
Sophomore Slate Miller licks his chops during the Saddleback Gaucho’s sixth inning rally that propelled them to a victory over the Santa Ana Dons, 3-1, at Doug Fritz field Tuesday.

The top of the eighth inning was extremely tense for the Saddleback bench as the Dons loaded up the bases against sophomore reliever Chase Jones. Head coach Sommer McCartney opted to bring in sophomore closer Coleman Huntley, who promptly shut down Santa Ana striking out the side and ending the threat before picking up the save in the ninth.

“Those are the situations that I play baseball for, having everyone relying on me to come through,” closer Coleman Huntley, 21, business administration major said. “It’s my job to come in and pick somebody up ’cause people are going to do it for me later, it’s just kind of returning the favor and being part of the team.”

Saddleback (17-9, 9-5) is now back in a first place tie in the OEC standings with Orange Coast (21-7, 9-5) and will play next at Santa Ana (17-10, 8-6) on Thursday with first pitch at 2 p.m.

“We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing all season,” head coach Sommer McCartney said looking ahead. “We’re going to work hard in practice with our hitting and work on our timing to get our foot down and be ready to strike the ball against whoever they throw on Thursday.”

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