Orange County Community College Baseball : Fullerton Snaps OCC 22-Game Win Streak, 8-3
The glitter that has been Orange Coast College’s season vanished for at least one game Saturday afternoon, taking with it the Pirates’ 22-game winning streak and their undefeated South Coast Conference baseball record.
Sophomore Jeff Oberdank hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to give Fullerton College an 8-3 win over the Pirates in Fullerton.
For OCC (17-1, 28-5), the loss ended the longest single-season winning streak in school history. Fullerton (11-8, 17-16) is still in the race for second place. Fullerton is two games behind Rancho Santiago.
All three Orange Coast outfielders were playing out of postion because of injuries. Todd Oshiro, a backup infielder, was in left, and Mark Rassmussen, normally the right fielder, moved to center because of an ankle injury suffered by Ralph Garcia last week against Cerritos. Joey James, who hit his 17th home run of the season in the sixth with no one on, normally plays left but played in right Saturday.
Oshiro and Rassmussen were involved in plays that directly resulted in six runs. Oshiro dropped a fly ball hit by Morgan Flynn to open the fourth inning. After a strikeout, two walks and a ground out that should have been the final out of the inning, Oberdank hit his grand slam to put the Hornets ahead, 7-2.
Oberdank singled in the ninth, which was his 103rd career hit at Fullerton, setting a school record. He surpassed Tony Cantelmo’s record of 102 set during the 1981-82 seasons.
Fullerton took a 3-1 first-inning lead. Anthony Moreno drove in two runs on a ball that went off Rassmussen’s glove for a double as the ball rolled through an open gate in center field.
“I don’t want to talk about the loss, I want to talk about the streak,” OCC Coach Mike Mayne said. “That was incredible. It was a tremendous winning streak. Today we just had people out of postion and it hurt us.”
The Pirates had plenty of scoring chances. OCC stranded 18 runners and left the bases loaded in the second and third. The Pirates left two runners on in the first, fourth, eighth and ninth.
Sophomore left-hander Jim Bennett (7-2) made his first relief appearence of the season and worked out of a jam in the eighth and ninth to get the save. Rob DeYoung (6-4) pitched the first six innings to get the win.
“They (OCC) played us tough all day,” Fullerton Coach Nick Fuscardo said. “They played bulldog with us all day and just would not give up. But, that’s how you win as many games in a row as they did.”
Freshman Jay Makemson (2-1) made the start because sophomore Longo Garcia (10-1) has been bothered by a sore arm his last two games. Makemson lasted into the seventh and took the loss.
In other South Coast Conference action:
Golden West 10, Mt. San Antonio 9--Keith Kaub’s grand slam in the sixth inning gave the Rustlers a 10-4 lead, but Golden West had to hold off the Mounties at home. Mt. SAC scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning, two of them on Mark DiVincenzo’s home run, but was unable to tie the game.
With five RBIs Saturday, Kaub set the Golden West single-season RBI record at 55. He has 14 home runs. Todd Nash added four hits and an RBI, and Jim Ingram had two hits and scored three runs for the Rustlers (11-8, 17-12). The Mounties are 7-12, 11-17.
Cerritos 8, Saddleback 6--Derek Dehdashtian hit a two-run home run in the top of the 10th to give the Falcons the win in Mission Viejo. Bucky Bollinger was 2 for 4 with a run scored, John Seeburger was 3 for 4 and Scott Hefner had two RBIs.
Rancho Santiago 14, Compton 3--Ruben Gonzales went 2 for 2, with six RBIs on two three-run home runs to lead the Dons to this easy win at home. Gonzales has 10 homers this season. Mitch Swalley was 3 for 4 with a double, triple and three RBIs. Rancho Santiago (13-5, 23-7) got 14 hits. Compton is 0-18 in conference.
