No. 1 Eastfield Crowned DAC Champs for 5th Straight Year

DAC SPORTS NETWORK REPLAY | HIGHLIGHTS

MESQUITE, Texas – Make it 5 for 5.

Dallas College Eastfield's top-ranked baseball team wrapped up its fifth consecutive Dallas Athletic Conference regular season title Saturday, beating No. 10 Dallas College North Lake 8-7. The Harvester Bees (37-11, 21-3 DAC) swept the series to finish 5-1 against the Blazers (22-26, 12-12) in the regular season.

"That's what it's been about with this program: keep our eyes on the next prize, and keep moving forward," Harvester Bees 25-year head coach Michael Martin said on a day he collected his 859^th career win at Eastfield and 965^th in college baseball. And it came on Eastfield Alumni Weekend as past Harvester Bees from over the years were honored, including the 2001 and 2006 National Junior College Athletic Association Division III National Championship teams.

It did nothing to take away from the special season the 2026 Harvester Bees are having.

"I don't think it was a distraction," shortstop Sergio Gastelum said after going 3 for 4, falling a triple shy of the cycle. "I think it was more motivation for us because it's a pretty special season already, and we're trying to be one of them."

It was Eastfield's sixth series sweep of the season and fifth in league play.

"It feels good to get this third win, and be on top of the conference," Harvester Bees closer Turner Corey said after collecting his nation-leading sixth save of the year. "I came in here, knowing I was going to win games. Maybe not as many as this. Hopefully we can keep it rolling."

After North Lake scored the game's first two runs in the first inning on back-to-back at-bats as Issac Garcia had an RBI single and Brayden McCallum delivered a run-scoring double, Eastfield wasted no time answering. Gastelum led off with solo home run in the bottom half of the inning to cut the Blazers' lead in half.

"I know I hit it right off the end," Gastelum said. "I saw it, just straight up in the air. The wind took it, honestly. I feel like it was a pretty special moment because it was like the breaking point for us. They scored two in the first. Then us coming to the plate, and getting that first knock out of the way early, I think that's the way it (broke) down for us."

Eastfield scored two more runs in the first on Jayden Boyd's 11^th home run of the season – a two-run shot to give the Harvester Bees a lead. North Lake answered in the second when Aidan Huante trotted home on a wild pitch to tie the game.

Center fielder Jacob Sivak drove in a run in the third, Luke Sasser's sacrifice fly in the fourth scored Angel Gutierrez, and Jayden Boyd's RBI groundout made it 6-3. Gastelum's fourth hit – an RBI single in the fifth to score Gutierrez – extended Eastfield's lead to four runs.

North Lake picked up two in the sixth on three hits and a couple errors to cut it to 7-5. Bear Herak, Aidan Huante and Ivan Rodriguez all had hits, with the latter driving in a run. Keydren Majors belted a two-out pinch hit homer to right for his fifth of the year in what amounted to the gamewinning run as Eastfield cushioned the lead to three.

Herak crushed his first homer as a Blazer – a two-run blast to left-center with North Lake down to its last strike to make it a one-run game in the ninth. But Corey retired the next hitter to clinch the title.

"Basically whenever I'm on the mound and they get that hit, I just take a couple deep breaths, don't let it get to me, and get the next guy, throw strikes," Corey said.

North Lake outhit Eastfield 12-10. Garcia and Herak each went 3 for 5, combining to drive in three runs. Gastelum's three hits and Boyd's three RBI drove the Harvesters' offense.

Vicente Rosas (1-1) pitched three innings in relief, allowing two unearned runs on five hits and no walks to notch his first win. Cooper Sexton set up Corey with a scoreless eighth.

"They've played really well, really well," Martin said. "We try to keep 'em focused. The old adage, 'One game at a time.' Once we play, we move on to the next one, win or lose. We're just trying to keep that focus, and don't look at the finish line and what's ahead of us. They've done a really good job of doing that. They're a talented group. They play really well, they play hard. We're excited about the guys that we have in this program now and the opportunities ahead of us for sure."