FC ENDS SEASON IN THE SOCAL FINALS

The No. 14 Fullerton College Hornets left everything on the field during the 3C2A Southern California Regional Finals against No. 2 Santa Ana College but ultimately saw their postseason run come to an end after dropping two games in the best-of-three series over the weekend.

Despite the losses, the Hornets capped off another impressive campaign under head coach Chad Baum finishing the season 26-23 overall while advancing to the SoCal Finals for the second time in four seasons.

Santa Ana took game one Friday afternoon 11-6 before completing the sweep with an 11-7 victory on Saturday at Don Sneddon Field.

In the opener, the Dons built an early 6-0 lead through five innings before the Hornets battled back to make things interesting. Fullerton erupted for four runs between the sixth and seventh innings highlighted by a two-run blast from Luke Viola and a strong performance from Diego Vazquez, who went 3-4 with a double, triple, RBI, and two runs scored. Vinny Hudson added a couple of hits and one RBI, while Sean Green and Kai Hopfel each collected two hits in the loss.

Santa Ana answered with a crushing five-run seventh inning powered by three home runs. Carlos Morales launched a three-run homer before Aiden Marquez and Evan Reiter followed with back-to-back solo shots to put the game away.

Fullerton continued to battle in the ninth as Coen Goeas and Carlos Barrios each drove in runs, but the comeback effort fell short.

Game two saw the Dons jump out to a commanding 10-0 advantage through six innings behind a relentless 17-hit attack, however the Hornets refused to go quietly exploding for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Luke Viola started the rally with an RBI single before Sean Green drew a bases-loaded walk. Coen Goeas delivered the biggest hit of the inning with a three-run double down the left field line, and Carlos Barrios followed with an RBI single to trim the deficit to 10-6.

Fullerton added another run in the seventh when Vinny Hudson ripped an RBI double to left-center, but Santa Ana answered late to secure the series-clinching win.

Goeas finished game two with two hits and three RBI, while Hudson and Viola each collected two hits. Jake Starr scored twice for the Hornets.

Although the season ended one step shy of the state tournament, the Hornets once again proved themselves as one of the top programs in Southern California. Since Baum took over in 2023, Fullerton has reached the SoCal Super Regionals in four consecutive seasons and advanced to the SoCal Finals twice.

With several key players expected to return along with another talented incoming class, the future remains bright for Fullerton baseball heading into the 2027 season.

*Photo by Myron Perez