Carter Hain had a solo shot in the seventh inning, his second of the series. Photo by Cara Heise.
Carter Hain had a solo shot in the seventh inning, his second of the series. Photo by Cara Heise.

Comets defeat Dons to reach Sectionals

SANTA ANA, CA (5/15/2022) -- No. 5 seeded Palomar College continued their No. 5 magic as they took down No. 4 Santa Ana College in the CCCAA SoCal Super Regionals in game three on Sunday with a 17-9 victory.

After winning game one and dropping Saturday's game, the season was on the line. Palomar came out and scored two runs in the first inning on a Tanner Lappin single, but it was the third inning where the Comets took care of business.

Down 4-3, Palomar knew they had a lot of game left to play. With runners on the corners, Lappin singled again to tie the game. After a Dons pitching change, designated hitter Jackson Garrett singled to bring in another run. Carter Hain then walked to load up the bases. And it was only up from there. Erik Larsen singled down the rightfield line for two runs batted in. Then on a groundout by Ethan Ellis, the Comets got another run across the plate. Devlin Lindeman was then hit by a pitch. With runners now on first and second, the Comets singled, then recorded two doubles to end the inning with the score 12-4. 

From there it was on the bullpen to hold the Dons, who won game two 13-9 on Saturday. In the sixth inning, the Dons were threatening to score with the bases loaded and only one out. Enter Connor McBride. The first batter he faced lined out to Larsen at short on a diving catch to save the run. McBride then got the next batter to chase and sent the Dons back to the dugout. In the seventh inning, the Comets found themselves in the same situation. The Dons had the bases loaded with nobody out. That's when the Comet defense brought out all the stops. Turning a 6-4-3 double play, the Comets only need one more out, but still had a runner on third. McBride brought the heat and struck out the next batter to close the inning. 

The Comets advance to the CCCAA Sectional Round and face top-seeded Saddleback College on Friday for game one of the best-of-three series. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.