Bobcats tax the Dons in opener

The Saddleback baseball team opened a three-game series with a 5-0 shutout of Santa Ana College on Tuesday in Santa Ana.  The Bobcats moved into sole possession of fourth place with the win.

April 15 is known as Tax Day in the United States, and it was the Bobcats that paid their taxes on time on Tuesday to start the series with a win.  Saddleback audited the Santa Ana offense, keeping them off the scoreboard for nine straight innings as the Bobcat pitching staff recorded its sixth shutout of the season.

Saddleback opened the scoring in the top half of the second inning when Bryson Hoier blasted a two-run homer over the right field wall for an early lead. The score remained the same until the sixth inning when the Bobcats scored solo runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. 

Hoier drove in a run in the sixth inning when he singled home Rodrigo Barajas, who had walked earlier in the inning.  James Derflinger then scored a run when he hit a ball to right field and the fielder misplayed the ball, allowing Derflinger to run all the way around to score the fourth run of the game.  The Bobcats then scored a run in the top of the eighth inning when Barajas opened the inning with a bunt single and later came around to score on a wild pitch.

Meanwhile, Saddleback's pitching was busy shutting down a Santa Ana offense that was averaging nearly 9.5 runs-per-game for the season heading into Tuesday.  Jack Gallison started and pitched through the fifth inning in picking up his third win of the year.  Jaden Sekhon then pitched three hitless innings before giving way to Andrew Padova in the ninth inning.  In total, Saddleback pitchers struck out seven Santa Ana batters while allowing only five hits the entire game.

Saddleback is now 22-13 overall and 8-8 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Bobcats have now won four of the past five games in moving into sole possession of fourth place in the Orange Empire Conference with five games remaining. 

Saddleback and Santa Ana will resume the series on Thursday at Saddleback, with the first pitch scheduled for 2:00 PM.