Pirates collect double sweep

Bryce Alderton

A swarm of bees the size of a basketball may have stopped the game

for a few minutes, but the Orange Coast College baseball team could

not be contained for too long Saturday against De Anza College.

The Pirates capitalized on five Dons’ errors while banging out 10

hits to defeat De Anza, 12-4, in seven innings at Wendell Pickens

Field in the fourth and final game of the Matt O’Brien Memorial

Tournament.

Coast (4-0) and De Anza (1-3) each played two games Friday and

another two Saturday. The game was called with two outs and one

runner on with De Anza batting in the bottom of the seventh because

the Dons had to catch a plane.

In the top of the second and Coast leading, 2-0, the swarm of bees

approached the field from the bleachers on the third-base side and

flew toward the Coast dugout, where it hovered for five minutes. The

bees sent players and umpires running off the field and fans in the

stands fleeing from their chairs to gather behind the backstop. About

10 minutes passed before play resumed.

While the Coast bats went dormant the next three innings, the Dons

grabbed a brief one-run lead when Casey Costa slammed he first pitch

he saw over the left-field fence for a three-run home run and a 3-2

Dons’ lead.

Dons’ starter Jeff Rogers went 4 1/3 innings, retiring the side in

order twice, before running into trouble in the fifth.

Coast catcher Dustin Hicks reached base when the shortstop

couldn’t handle the sharply-hit grounder -- the Dons’ third error.

Second baseman Ben Hanna, who went 2 for 5 with two singles and two

runs, bunted down the first-base line and beat the throw with a

head-first slide. Center fielder Derik Easttom then bunted safely

down the third-base line, setting up Kyle Stanley’s sharp single to

left field that plated two runs to give Coast the lead for good.

Left-handed hitting right fielder Greg Benoit capped the inning with

a two-run double that sent the left-fielder scrambling to the fence

to retrieve the rolling ball.

“Greg Benoit hit a big base-clearing double that sparked us that

inning,” Hanna said. “The bunting helped us out a lot.. We put the

ball in play and they helped us with the errors.”

Two errors led to OCC’s first two runs in the opening inning.

Coast’s offense wasn’t the only element to its fourth straight win to

open the season. The Pirates received solid efforts from starter

Tucker Boyd (four innings giving up four runs), Estancia High-product

Jordan Hart (1 2/3 innings with two strikeouts and one run) and Bryan

Jackson (one inning).

Hart, a 6-foot-5 left-hander, came in with a runner on first and

no outs in the bottom of the fifth, but calmly struck out the first

two batters he faced, the first one on a sweeping curve ball on the

outside corner that froze the batter. He would give up his only run

on a single by Casey Costa into right field. Benoit, in right field,

played the ball and fired it to shortstop Chris Bullock, who applied

the tag to Costa attempting to swap an extra base.

“I came in, located my pitches and threw strikes,” Hart said. “I

did what I had to do.”

Five players each scored two runs for Coast including Hanna,

Stanley (three RBIs, going 1 for 3) left fielder Jeff Piaskowski

(four walks), third baseman Brad Miller (1 for 4), catcher Dustin

Hicks (1 for 4 with two RBIs) and Justin Humalon. Benoit knocked in

three in a 2-for-4 performance.

* In Coast’s game against Mt. San Jacinto earlier Saturday, third

baseman Jarrod Carchio went 3 for 5 with three RBIs and catcher John

Grant collected two hits in three at bats with two RBIs to lead Coast

to an 11-3 victory. Coast had two five-run innings.

Kyle Allen went six innings scattering four hits and one run while

striking out seven and walking one. Mike Farias pitched three innings

in relief and struck out four while walking none.