Coasters: The Year-End Awards

Steve Virgen

If you visit https://www.occsports.com, you will see the work of

Orange Coast College sports information director Sam Felsenfeld. Over the

course of this year, the website has improved to the point it’s as good

as a D-1 university website.

Now, the site features message boards for Pirate backers and bashers.

Felsenfeld poses a question for visitors: Which team had the most

surprising success during the 2000-01 year?

Staying within that tradition, the following are my year-end awards

for OCC sports. It has been a fun year, to say the least.

By the way, Felsenfeld’s question received 48 responses and baseball

led with 16, followed by football at 14 and men’s soccer in third with

eight.

In fact, those three squads are the finalists for the Most Surprising

Team of the Year Award.

Coach John Altobelli’s baseball team overcame great odds this season.

While last year’s squad played below expectations, this year’s team

reached its potential and provided much hope for OCC fans next season.

Why were Altobelli’s Pirates so surprising this year? There were three

extra-inning victories, a goal reached with a playoff appearance and when

OCC slumped to a six-game losing streak, the Pirates broke out with a 4-2

win over Santa Ana, the Orange Empire Conference champions.

OCC men’s soccer and football were very much alike this year with

their turnaround seasons for the ages. Both teams were also identical

because they did not feature an overall most valuable player. Instead,

the Pirates displayed the team concept in full effect.

Coach Mike Taylor said his football team’s ability to create

friendships was important in the Bucs’ success. They lived up to their

season’s theme -- one heartbeat -- which led to their 26-25 upset win

over Mt. San Antonio, a share of the Mission Conference title and an

appearance in the Strawberry Bowl.

However, in regards to the most surprising season, the award goes to

Coach Laird Hayes’ soccer team. Consider this: last year, the Pirates

played to a 3-14-4 season, but when Hayes promoted assistants Kevin Smith

and Pat Callaghan the results led to a 19-4-4 record and the No. 4

community college team in the nation as selected by the the National

Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Before its run to the state championship game, the Pirates won a 3-2

thriller over visiting Santa Ana in the regular-season finale, snapping

the Dons’ 70-game unbeaten streak. The Dons avenged the loss with a 3-0

victory for the state title. Next year’s meetings between the two should

be a treat.