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Baseball Opens League with Back-to-Back Wins
South Coast League play has begun this season in the same way it ended last season for the Dana Hills baseball team, with the Dolphins completely shutting down Trabuco Hills.
Dana Hills (4-8, 2-0) allowed one run in the first inning of its South Coast League opener at Trabuco Hills on Tuesday, March 19, and the Dolphins did not allow a run in the next 13 innings, as Dana Hills picked up a 6-1 road win in the opener and a 1-0 home win on Wednesday, March 20. The Dolphins look for the three-game sweep back at Trabuco Hills on Friday, March 22.
The Dolphins have now won five consecutive games against the Mustangs dating back to a season-ending, three-game sweep last season. Dana Hills needed a sweep of those final three games to jump ahead of Trabuco Hills and grab the final playoff spot in the South Coast League. Dana Hills allowed just one run in each of those three games.
Dana Hills had lost seven of its previous eight games entering South Coast League play and generally had struggled to plate many runs. However, the Dolphins got it all together for their league opener on Tuesday.
After allowing a one-out walk to score on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning and getting a bases-loaded strikeout from Ben Moulin to end the second inning, Dana Hills held down Trabuco Hills.
In the fourth inning, Dana Hills led off with a walk from Brody Bateson and singles from Michael Rodgers and Evan Daly before a two-out, two-run single by Dane Thompson put the Dolphins ahead, 2-1.
Dana Hills increased its lead in the sixth inning thanks to Trabuco Hills miscues. An error and a hit batter came back to bite the Mustangs on another two-out, two-run single by Thompson to score Sterling Rapp and Reed Ezor and a double by Andrew Szkiba to score Thompson. The Dolphins tacked on one more run in the seventh with a leadoff double by Grady Faris and a RBI single by Rodgers.
Moulin allowed one run on five hits over four innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Rodgers closed it down with one hit allowed over the final three innings with two strikeouts and two walks.
In the second game on Wednesday, Dana Hills got on top early and never allowed Trabuco Hills to threaten.
Szkiba and Faris led off the bottom of the first inning with singles, and Szkiba scored on an error for the only run the Dolphins needed, 1-0.
Faris backed up the lone run with a one-hit complete game performance on the mound with eight strikeouts and one walk.
After closing out Trabuco Hills on Friday, the Dolphins roll right into their toughest test in South Coast League play with three games against league-leading Tesoro next week.
Tesoro (7-3, 1-1) is the only South Coast League team with a winning overall record, which was also the case last season for the defending league champion Titans. Tesoro split the first two games of league play this week with Capistrano Valley (2-8, 1-1).
Dana Hills is at Tesoro on Tuesday, March 26, and hosts the Titans on Wednesday, March 27. The Dolphins will be back at Tesoro next Friday, March 29.
Meyer, Harris, Harden Perform at Triton Invitational
While the appearances of Dana Hills’ top distance runners have been few and far between to begin the track and field season, three other Dolphin athletes put out top performances at San Clemente’s Triton Invitational last Saturday, March 16.
Roxy Meyer grabbed the only victory on the day for Dana Hills, as the senior won the girls long jump with a mark of 17 feet, 6½ inches.
Logan Harris earned Dana Hills’ only other podium spot in the boys 1,600 meters with a third-place time of 4:34.32. The senior also placed fifth in the boys 3,200 meters with a personal-record time of 9:34.06 in a race that the home San Clemente runners took five of the top seven spots, including the top three.
In the girls pole vault, junior Sydni Harden posted a personal-record clearance of 11 feet, 4 inches. Harden finished fourth.
Softball Drops League Opener
After winning three of its previous four games with one draw, Dana Hills softball got shut down in its South Coast League opener on Tuesday, March 19.
Dana Hills (5-5-1, 0-1) went on the road to Mission Viejo, and the Diablos kept the Dolphins off the scoreboard in a 10-0 victory.
Dana Hills has won only one league game over the past two seasons. The Dolphins have not had a winning record in league play since 2019.
The Dolphins followed their Mission Viejo loss with a 13-3 home loss to Rosary on Wednesday, March 20. Rosary is ranked No. 7 in CIF-SS Division 2.
Dana Hills continued in league play at home against Tesoro on Thursday, March 21, but results were not available at press time. The Dolphins will play in the Dugard Classic in Irvine this weekend before returning to league play at San Juan Hills next Thursday, March 28.
Boys Volleyball Loses First Three League Matches
After its breakthrough season last year, the Dana Hills boys volleyball team was looking to push itself further up the league standings and CIF-SS rankings. However, it’s been back to the struggles of years past for the Dolphins.
Dana Hills (5-11-1, 0-3) was swept at home by Capistrano Valley on Tuesday, March 19, to mark its third consecutive loss, all in league play. Dana Hills was swept by Mission Viejo last Thursday, March 14, and lost in four sets at El Toro to open league play on March 12.
The Dolphins begin the second round of league play on Friday, March 22, as they host El Toro. Dana Hills is at Mission Viejo next Tuesday, March 26, and at Capistrano Valley next Thursday, March 28.