12 SPORTS
SANTA ANA COLLEGE el Don / eldonnews . org • MONDAY , MAY 21 , 2018
SPRING SPORTS WRAP-UP
STORY BY JORDY ESPINOZA
MIXED BAG FOR SANTA ANA ATHLETICS
It was a topsy-turvy semester for the Dons this spring , as women led the way and the men struggled to find success . The sophomore duo of Mikelle Taylor and Viridiana Serrano were ranked the No . 1 beach volleyball duo in the state and despite a first-round elimination in the playoffs — softball finished second in the conference with a record of 15-6 . Success wasn ’ t limited for the women as three Dons from the baseball team were honored on the Orange Empire All-Conference first team .
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
JIMENEZ QUALIFIES FOR STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sophomore Eric Jimenez qualified for two events at the state championships being held at Bakersfield College May 18 and 19 .
Jimenez placed fourth in the SoCal Regional Finals in the 10,000-meter race timing in at 32:28.65 . Later in the meet , he followed with a third-place finish in the 5,000-meter event with a time of 15:07.72 qualifying for the second consecutive year .
The Dons track team will come out to support Jimenez in hopes of bringing a championship title back to Santa Ana .
MEN ’ S TRACK
BASEBALL
LATE SEASON SURGE NOT ENOUGH FOR DONS
SERRANO AND TAYLOR FALL SHORT IN STATE
After qualifying for the 2018 state championships , Viridiana Serrano and Mikelle Taylor took a road trip to West Valley College to compete against the top 32 pairs .
Serrano and Taylor were placed as the 16th seed and played against duos from Long Beach City , Palomar and Cabrillo colleges . The pair battled , but were shut down going 0-3 to end their season in the 32nd round .
The duo started out 14-0 and were ranked first in the state by collegebeachvb . com for most of the season . Serrano and Taylor are both transferring to universities in the fall .
The Dons ended its season placing fifth in the OEC with an overall record of 22-18 and a conference record of 10-11 . The Dons missed out on the playoffs despite a late-season surge .
Sophomores Andrew Martinez , Bryan Leef and Nathan Flores were placed on the OEC All-Conference First team and shortstop Juan Gonzalez was recognized on the second team .
Offense was key for Santa Ana this season tallying 430 hits , placing second in the conference only behind Cypress ’ 441 hits . Santa Ana had a team batting average of . 300 , the second best in the conference .
The Dons ’ pitching staff allowed the most homeruns in the conference ( 24 ) and had a team ERA of 4.10 , which was the fourth worst .
Most of the sophomores are on their way out and will compete at the fouryear level in the fall .