Movin’ on up

The Saddleback softball team completed a sweep of Santa Ana College with a 6-0 victory over the Dons on Friday at Bobcats Field.  The Bobcats moved into a tie for fourth place with three games remaining.

Saddleback 's softball team continues to surge up the standings and with one week remaining in Orange Empire Conference play are just two games out of third place in the standings.  The Bobcats finish the regular season with a three-game series against Fullerton College, the team they are currently tied with for fourth place. 

On Friday the Bobcats had some housecleaning to do with one game remaining in the series against Santa Ana.  Saddleback took care of business, shutting out the Dons to record a fifth straight win and a series sweep. 

Saddleback and Santa Ana were scoreless heading to the bottom of the fourth inning when Saddleback finally made a move.  The Bobcats scored four times in taking control of the game and added two insurance runs in the fifth inning for a 6-0 advantage.

Saddleback had six straight batters reach base in the fourth inning to take control.  Malia Garcia walked to lead off the inning and quickly stole second in an attempt to put the go-ahead run at second base.  Ka'ui Garcia followed with a sharp single to left field, moving Malia to third base.  The sister act then combined to score the opening run when Ka'ui stole second base and the throw down to second was off the mark, allowing Malia to cross home plate with the opening run. 

Following a double from Macy Smith, Tasneem Kerdiya then singled home Ka'ui Garcia for a 2-0 lead.  McKenzie Lombard followed with a single to score Smith for a 3-0 lead as the Bobcats were starting to put up a crooked number.  The final run scored when Isabelle Gedeon grounded out to second base, allowing Lombard to cross the plate.

Saddleback tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning, capitalizing on a defensive miscue from the Dons.  Cristen Areopagita led off the inning with a single and then advanced to third base when Malia Garcia got on base due to an error from the first baseman.  Ka'ui Garcia then came to the place and delivered a sacrifice fly to score Areopagita with the fifth run of the game.  Smith followed with a single to score Malia Garcia with the final run of the game.

Smith started on the mound and had a no-hitter going until the sixth inning.  She pitched a complete game, allowing three hits over the final two innings while improving to 12-5 for the season.

Saddleback is now 23-11 overall and 7-8 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win.  The 23 wins by Saddleback is the most for the program since 2015 (27-14), which was the last time it made the playoffs. 

Saddleback will finish the regular season with a three-game series against Fullerton College, who won the state title last season.  Saddleback opens at Fullerton on Monday (2:00 PM) and Tuesday (2:00 PM) before returning home on Thursday (2:00 PM) for the regular season finale.