SUCCESSFUL SEASON COMES TO AN END

It was the last Fullerton College sports team standing this spring as the Hornet baseball squad extended its season all the way to the SoCal Regional Finals.

The No. 13 Hornets faced with No. 4 Santa Ana College on Friday and Saturday dropping both games 9-5 and 12-4. The Dons will now head to the state tournament since their last run in 2011.

For Saturday's game at Santa Ana, the Hornets fell behind 2-0 in the third inning, but then tied it up 4-4 with two runs of their own in the fourth. Diego Franco knocked a single to first that scored Niko Santamaria and then Isaiah Marquez came home on a Don wild pitch.

Santa Ana took back the lead with a run in the fifth, and then added 9 runs in the six and seventh innings for a 12-2 advantage that was highlighted by Troy Kent's grand slam.

Down by a large amount, the Hornets did their best to rally back scoring 2 runs in the eighth. Bryce Gamble hit a hard single down the right field line that scored Santamaria. Jared Benash then hit a SAC Fly to right field that gave Isiah Marquez the opportunity to go home.

Fullerton has been in the Regional Finals now five times in the program's history since 1961. This season was Head Coach Chad Baum's first in two full seasons since taking over the reins. Former Hall of Fame skipper Nick Fuscardo (1990, 2013, 2015, and 2016) had done it the previous four times.

The future is bright for the Hornets with Coach Baum leading the way. Look for the 2024 season to have great success as the team will reload for another state run.