Dons Capture Fifth State Championship in Program History with 7-4 Game Seven Win
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 7 | 14 | 1 |
IRVINE, Calif. - Santa Ana College Baseball took home their second 3C2A State Championship in the last four seasons after defeating the Palomar Comets (43-8) by a score of 7-4 in the season finale on Monday afternoon.
The Dons had an uphill battle going into the third day of the tournament as they needed two wins against a tough Palomar team that they just lost to a day before. But pitching performances from Adrian Villegas and Andrew Phillips as well as an offensive onslaught led by Nikko Paoletto lifted the Dons to the title.
In game one, Santa Ana's bats came alive as they posted 19 runs on 18 hits while Villegas shut down the Comet offense in the first start of his career. The right-hander out of Segerstrom High School is one of the high leverage bullpen arms for the Dons but was called on to deliver in a start when it mattered. In five and two third innings of work, he struck out four batters while conceding to two runs to earn his third win of the year.
Paoletto and Ken Tomitaka combined to go 7-for-9 with three RBI and a pair of walks while Jack Mueller broke things open and sent the tournament to game seven with four of his six RBI coming from a grand slam in the eighth inning.
With all of SAC's usual starting pitchers already being used, the Dons went to their closer Colin Galvin to start game two. Galvin was solid for two and two third innings but got tagged for two home runs by Palomar's best hitter in Elijah Stephens.
Santa Ana then handed the ball to Andrew Phillips, who started and went five innings on day one, and saw him deliver in a heroic way.
The standout out Loyola Marymount University commit threw with conviction as he held the Comets scoreless over six and a third innings while the Dons chipped away offensively. He finished with seven strikeouts while giving up just four hits and two walks for his ninth win of the year and second of the tournament.
"He's a kid that wants the ball," Head Coach Tom Nilles said of Phillips. "He told us, 'I could throw on Saturday and come back on Monday' and that's how we wanted to script it. We wanted our guys who had the arms throwing on Day 1 so they could bounce back on Day 3. We just wanted to chip away and get outs however we could."
Despite the Madison Bumgarner type of performance that Phillips had, it was Paoletto who was named tournament MVP as he produced big numbers with 11 hits, nine RBI and four home runs in three days of baseball. In game seven, he came up clutch once again with a go-ahead two run homer in the fifth inning and then made two acrobatic catches in right field that left the crowd in awe.
"I've been waiting my whole life for moments like this today," said Paoletto. "I'm glad I was able to take this opportunity when it was presented to me, and I'm just so blessed to be a part of this team."
With the win, the Santa Ana College Baseball program now has five state championships in its history with the last two coming under Head Coach Tom Nilles.
