Palomar, Santa Ana Reach 3C2A Baseball State Championship Finals
IRVINE -- After a bit of an icy patch, the bats of the South No. 2 seed Santa Ana College Dons found their stroke when it was needed most as they rolled to a 12-3 win over N2 Feather River on Day 2 of the 3C2A Baseball State Championships played Sunday night at the Great Park.
With the win, Santa Ana (42-7-1) advanced to the State Championship finals, where they take on fellow Southern California neighbor, Palomar, on Monday, beginning at 11 a.m. The Dons will need to win twice to win the title, while the undefeated Comets will need just one more "W" to clinch their first-ever state title in program history.
It will be the first all-South final since 2023--the same year that Santa Ana won its last state crown defeating Orange Empire Conference foe Saddleback.
SAC starting pitcher Zach Ireland (8-1) gave his team all he had and then some. The righty pitched seven strong innings, holding the Golden Eagles to three runs (two earned) on seven hits over seven innings with three walks and eight strikeouts over a 135-pitch performance.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Dons snapped a nine-inning, three-hit, scoreless drought that began midway through the 4-3 loss to Palomar earlier in the day by scoring five runs to take over the game for good. Barrett Ronson walked to lead off the frame and moved up to second on a single by Nikko Paoletto, a throw off a sacrifice bunt by Ken Tomitaka was lost in the sun, allowing Ronson to score from second to even the score at 1-1.
Nathaniel Williams then drove in Paoletto and Tomitaka with a two-run single up the middle before Ben Melendrez launched a two-run home run over the left-field fence and just like that … five batters, five runs.
From there, the drought was over and the Dons added on in every inning, finishing the night with 12 runs on 14 hits, highlighted by home runs from Paoletto (3-for-5, two runs, three RBI), Melendrez (1-for-3, three RBI) and Evan Reiter (3-for-5, two runs, one RBI). Aiden Marquez added to the SAC offense, going 2-for-5 with one run and one RBI.
Feather River picked up multi-hit nights from Walker DesRosier (2-for-5), Legend Lancaster (2-for-4, one run), and Nick Anderson (2-for-4, one run). FRC starter Marcus Maeder (6-3) started strong with three shutout frames on the potent Dons offense before faltering in the fourth.
The Golden Eagles end their season at 37-16.
PALOMAR 4, SANTA ANA 3
S1 Palomar (43-6) punched its ticket to the state finals after a hard-fought, 4-3 win over Santa Ana in the championship semifinals.
The Comets jumped out to a 4-0 lead early on, thanks to a pair of run-scoring ground outs in the first two innings, followed by a two-run single in the third off the bat of Michael Rodda.
Santa Ana quickly responded in the bottom of the third when Marquez slugged a three-run home run to right-center off of Comet starter Elijah Stephens, trimming the Comets' lead to one.
But from there, the story of the game became the bullpens of each team. Both teams were held scoreless the rest of the way, showing exactly WHY these two teams each earned over 40 wins this year.
Cody Cappelletti (2-0) came in relief of Stephens and held the Dons to just two hits over 4.1 scoreless innings of work to earn the win. He retired 12 out of the first 13 batters he faced before an error and single started a dangerous bottom of the eighth for the Dons. Palomar teammate, Angel Barron came in and left those two baserunners on to end the threat. From there, Jude Atley struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the Comet win for his first save of the season.
SAC reliever Travis Bergmann did an outstanding job of shutting down the Comets over the final 6.2 innings, holding Palomar to just two hits over that span with three walks and four strikeouts.
Rodda finished the afternoon going 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Palomar bats.
The Comets are now just one win away from their first-ever baseball state championship in program history. A baseball title will also match Palomar's softball state crown, which will be the first dual championship in those two sports since Cypress College pulled off the daily double back in 1987.
FEATHER RIVER 11, OHLONE 9
Small ball played large for the victorious Golden Eagles as they kept their season alive early on Sunday with an 11-9 win over the N1 Renegades in the first elimination game of the state tourney.
The loss ended the season for Ohlone as it wraps up 2026 with a record of 40-10.
It was "death by 1,000 paper cuts" for Ohlone as the Golden Eagles used walks, hit batters, and bunt singles to their advantage. In fact, of the 11 runs scored by FRC only one reached on a single that reached the outfield grass.
Ohlone put on a scare of a lifetime against the Golden Eagles. Trailing 11-1 after the seventh inning, the Renegades refused to quit, scoring two runs in the eighth and a whopping six runs in the top of the ninth before FRC reliever Carl Colavecchio picked up the 27th and final out on a ground out, leaving the tying run at the plate.
The top of the Feather River batting order produced the most damage. Lancaster led the way, going 3-for-4 with one run and three RBI from the No. 3 spot. Just ahead of him, Anderson went 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI, while leadoff hitter DesRosier added a hit, two runs and two RBI.
FRC starter Tanner Hail (6-2) picked up the win, holding Ohlone to one run on eight hits over 6.1 innings, walking three, while striking out six in a 128-pitch performance.
For the Renegades, Chuy Vasquez wrapped up a solid two days of state championship baseball, going 4-for-5, with a run scored and one RBI. Jordan Medina went 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Brady Hernandez came off the bench to lead the Ohlone comeback, going 2-for-2 with two runs and three RBI.
Game Stories by Tony Altobelli, CCCSIA