Honors Are Piling Up for Dons, Sneddon

The honors continue to roll in for Coach Don Sneddon and his Rancho Santiago baseball team.

Sneddon, who coached the Dons to the 1993 State championship, was selected as the Diamond Sports/American Baseball Coaches Assn. national coach of the year for two-year colleges.

Rancho Santiago, which won its fourth consecutive Orange Empire Conference title, finished 41-9. Sneddon has a record of 383-133 in 12 seasons.

“It’s always an honor to get something like this,” he said. “It’s a reflection of the team and the season we had. But it also signals the end of that season. There are no more honors or accolades left to be won.”

The Dons are the early favorite to repeat, according to Baseball America, which has ranked them No. 1 nationally in its preseason poll.

“They must have a crystal ball,” Sneddon said. “We have only three starters back. But it does show some respect for the program.”

The best Sneddon’s team can do is finish first in the state, because California teams don’t participate in the National Junior College World Series.

Rancho Santiago’s Brandon Hoalton was ranked as the third-best community college prospect by Baseball America. Hoalton, a sophomore right-handed pitcher, was 12-0 with a 2.47 earned-run average last season, and the state’s co-pitcher of the year.

Daryle Ward, a Rancho Santiago freshman first baseman, was ranked the 16th-best prospect. Ward, the son of Gary Ward who played nine seasons in the major leagues, is from Riverside Bethel Christian High School.

Jeff Poor, a catcher at Los Angeles Harbor, was selected as the nation’s top-ranked player.

The Dons’ season starts Feb. 4.

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Men’s basketball update: Fullerton, the most impressive team early this season, got back in the Orange Empire Conference race with a 77-74 victory against Riverside Friday.

Riverside led the game, 74-73, with less than 30 seconds to play.

But Fullerton’s Tamar Ross, who was fouled by Marcus Maxey while driving the baseline, made two free throws to give the Hornets a 75-74 lead with eight seconds left.

Riverside had a chance to take the lead, but Raimonds Miglinieks threw a pass out of bounds in the closing seconds. Kevin Carlson of Fullerton made two free throws to seal the victory.

Fullerton made 10 of 10 free-throw attempts in the final five minutes 46 seconds. The loss ended Riverside’s nine game-winning steak.

The Hornets (17-6, 2-2) are a game behind Riverside (17-5, 3-1), Rancho Santiago (15-6, 3-1) and Saddleback (13-6, 3-1).

Fullerton is tied for fourth with Irvine Valley (14-8, 2-2) and Orange Coast (11-8, 1-3), Cypress (10-13, 1-3) and Golden West (8-12, 1-3) are tied for sixth.

Things don’t get any easier for Fullerton. The Hornets travel to Rancho Santiago (15-6, 3-1) for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday. The teams have met once this season with Rancho Santiago winning, 76-68, in the championship game of the Crown City tournament in Pasadena.

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Women’s basketball update: Golden West has been ranked second in the state for much of the season behind Lassen. But Lassen lost twice last week and Golden West figures to move into the top spot when the poll is released today.

But Golden West beat Orange Coast, 79-71, in overtime Friday in a game the Rustlers nearly lost. Orange Coast, which played with as much determination as its had all season, was up by six points with about a minute to play.

But Golden West tied it, 66-66, on a rebound basket by Julie Murdent with two seconds left. Golden West then scored the first nine points in overtime.

Golden West plays at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Saddleback, then has a bye Friday. Cypress (18-5, 3-1) is in second, Fullerton (14-10, 2-1) third, Riverside (18-7, 1-2) and Orange Coast (13-9, 1-2) are tied for fourth, Saddleback (6-10, 1-3) is sixth and Rancho Santiago (3-11, 0-3) is seventh.