The sweet-swinging American Leadership Academy Patriots put together 20 hits in a 21-6 rout of the Coronado Dons. Ethan Lindauer, Tyler Miccolis, and Tyler Cluff each had three-hit games for the Patriots in Tuesday night’s non-conference game that was shortened to five innings due to the run rule.

Dons starting pitcher, Francisco Porras, didn’t get much help from his teammates as they struggled to make the easy plays.

“We struggled today defensively,” Porras said. “Simple plays, pop flies, ground balls. Those are plays that need to be made. It’s hard as a pitcher when you are throwing more pitches that need to be made.”

The Dons let a handful of passed balls go by that had the Patriots on their horses the whole game.

“I tried to encourage my teammates during their mistakes,” Porras said. “These guys are the type of players that need positive energy. If I drop my head then they tend to drop their head as well.”

When the game got out of hand for the Dons, Porras made sure to stay composed.

“I try not to look back at the scoreboard,” Porras said. “I got a job and I have to be able to stay focused and do it.”

Trevor Monday drove in two runs in the first inning with a two-out double to right center for the Dons.

“I haven’t been hitting that good to start the season so it felt great to get that base hit and score two,” Monday said. “It was nice to do it in front of the home crowd.”

Monday’s two-run double in the first brought the Dons within one run before the Patriots scored 18 unanswered. Monday was 1-for-1 with two RBIs and two walks.

The Patriots pitchers allowed just seven hits to hold the Dons to six runs. Tyler Cluff led the staff with three strikeouts in just two innings pitched.

Coronado’s head coach, Ryan Dyer, knew that Tuesday night’s matchup against American Leadership Academy would be a challenge for his team.

“They are a very well coached, disciplined, and solid ball club,” Dyer said. “They came out and put the ball in play and just beat us.”

Despite the score, the Dons kept fighting until the end, scoring four runs in the fifth inning and making Dyer proud.

“I was proud of everybody today. They did a great job of grinding and the last inning was an example of that,” Dyer said. “Putting up four runs against the solid closer that they have. They never stopped fighting, they don’t pay attention to the score.”

The Dons fell to 1-5 as the Patriots improved to 6-2-2.

The Dons have a quick turnaround, as they look to bounce back Wednesday against the 7-2 Snowflake Lobos in the last game before conference play starts. Junior Castro will be on the bump for the Dons.