SANTA ANA, Calif. - It took 11 innings for the No. 9 ranked Santa Ana Softball team to defeat No. 10 Santiago Canyon (27-9, 16-5) by a score of 2-1 to secure the fifth Orange Empire Conference Championship in school history. 

It was an epic pitchers duel between two of the best pitchers in the state with SAC's Emily Rosas going toe to toe with the Hawks' Stella Turner. 

Rosas collected her 30th win of the season, finishing with four strikeouts and just one earned run on the day. Her counterpart Turner was equally as good but took the loss after surrendering an unearned run in the 11th. 

Offensively, the Dons (30-7, 17-6) manufactured just enough runs when they needed it. After the Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning, Santa Ana responded immediately with a couple hits from Vinnie Robles and Alexis Rangel which set up Sonya Carnal, who executed a squeeze play to bring home the tying run. 

Both teams made big plays to keep the score even over the next five innings until the Dons finally broke through in the 11th. Thanks to three consecutive errors by the Hawks defense, the Dons found themselves with the bases loaded and no outs. Rangel then came to the plate and did her job, lifting a pitch to center field for a walk-off sacrifice fly.

WIth the win the Dons finished conference play in a two-way tie for first place with No. 6 Cypress but will be the No. 2 seed in the OEC Softball Tournament, which starts on Friday at 2:00 p.m.