Comets and Dons head to game three

SAN MARCOS, CA (5/18/2024) -- The Santa Ana College Dons evened up the series against Paloamr College on Saturday afternoon with a 5-4 decision to force the if necessary game on Sunday.

Like yesterday, the Comets struck first one a lead-off homer by Elijah Cook to take a 1-0 lead. The Dons answered in their half of the first and scored another in the third. Palomar got one run back in the fifth when Colby Rafail scored on a wild pitch, but the Dons just wouldn't go away. They scored another two runs to give them a 5-2 lead. The Comets, who have shown fight all season, continued to do so. In the ninth, Ian Halverson homered to make the score 5-3. With the bases then loaded, Ryan Rivera worked a walk to bring the Comets within one. But this time it wasn't enough as the inning ended on a groundout.

Ryan Herrod started the game for the Comets. In 6.0 innings pitched, he allowed five runs on six hits and struck out two. Nathaniel Helton pitched the last two innings and allowed just one hit to go along with a strikeout.

The rubber match, with a trip to the State Finals on the line, will be played tomorrow at noon.