COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASEBALL : Ward’s Single Is the Key for Rancho Santiago

Daryle Ward had a one-out RBI single to give Rancho Santiago a 12-11 victory over Rio Hondo in a nonconference baseball game Tuesday in Santa Ana.

Ward’s hit capped an impressive late-inning rally for the Dons (10-2). Rio Hondo scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take an 11-5 lead. But Rancho Santiago scored two in the seventh, three in the eighth and two more in the ninth.

David Mallas started the ninth-inning rally with a double and one out later, Matt Kastelic tripled to tie the score. Raul Gonzalez had a double, a triple and three RBIs also for Rancho Santiago.

In other nonconference games:

Golden West 9, Palomar 3--Shawn Allbee (2-1) allowed two runs in six innings for host Golden West (6-4). Ken Phann had two hits and scored three runs for Golden West.

Saddleback 13, San Diego Mesa 13 (10 innings, darkness)--David Biddinger had a three-run home run in the ninth to tie the score for Saddleback (4-3-1).