Pirates’ pitching provides strength

Chris Yemma

Every year Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli says

the pitching is going to be the most solid aspect of his team.

There’s no difference this year.

“Every year I say it’s the pitching and sometimes I falter, so I’m

afraid what to say,” Altobelli said. “But I’ve got to say it’s the

pitching, just because of the returning guys.”

With the Pirates new season underway after an opening-day win

against visiting College of the Desert Saturday, Altobelli will once

again be looking to his pitching crew for his 13th season at Coast’s

helm.

But the tone of what is to come this year is still up in the air.

A couple of key players have been lost. Reid Horton, who carried the

Pirates’ pitching load through 63 innings with a 4.83 ERA last

season, moved on to Chico State.

Jose Castaneda and Anthony Duarte, two offensive players that

connected for 35 and 27 singles last season, respectively, were also

lost to four-year universities.

And Jeff Piaskowski, a slugger with a .243 batting average who

drove in 17 RBIs last season and had a team-high five home runs, was

also lost.

But losses come with every team in every sport, and the Pirates

are looking to capitalize on the new team, a team that has yet to be

defined.

“It’s a mystery on how this team’s going to be,” Altobelli said.

“The biggest thing is obviously our conference. Our conference is so

competitive and all the teams are very good.”

Heading the Orange Empire Conference will most likely again be

Saddleback. The Gauchos compiled a 29-12 record last season and won

the California Community College State Championship. Saddleback has

continued on into the postseason 11 of the 12 past years under Coach

Jack Hodges, and is a favorite in what many consider one of the best

baseball conferences in the nation.

The Pirates lost both meetings with Saddleback last season and

finished the year, 12-21, 6-15 in the OEC.

“You think you have a good team, and then you get in the

conference and everybody beats each other up,” Altobelli said. “And

you’ve got a pretty good ballclub. That happens a lot in our

conference, so this is going to be a wait-and-see project for us.”

A good portion of Coast’s offensive success this year will rely on

returning slugger Matt Cline, one of three captains.

Cline smacked a team-high 47 singles in 2004, while also driving

in a team-high 20 RBIs. He had the highest batting average at .398

through 118 at-bats and 32 games.

“He’s going to be our lead-off hitter -- the guy that will kind of

set the table for us,” Altobelli said. “He struggled a little bit

this fall, but lately he’s been swinging the bat really well.

“So hopefully he’s found his swing again. Defensively, he’s about

as solid as you can get at shortstop.”

The other two captains -- sophomores Shaun Busby and Ryan Clear

will be leading the pitching staff, along with sophomore Steven

Johns. Last season, Clear pitched 40 innings with a 4.43 ERA and

Busby pitched four innings with a 2.25 ERA.

Johns, who got the opening-day nod and pitched 71 innings last

season with a 4.40 ERA and 62 strikeouts -- the most on the team.

Cline, Busby and Clear will be providing a sense of leadership

that was somewhat lacking in years past.

“I like this team a little bit more [than last year’s],” Altobelli

said. “There’s better cohesion on this team. There’s better

leadership on this team -- there wasn’t much leadership last year.

These guys have been gelling together and they seem to get along

well.”

Behind leadoff hitter Cline, sophomore first-baseman Robbie Blauer

will be swinging the bat. Through 107 at-bats, Blauer hit 29 singles

and 11 RBIs last season.

But this season, the pitching should be the key to the Pirates’

success.

“Pitching-wise, we’ve got to stay in ballgames,” Altobelli said.

“If we give up a touchdown and a field goal (10 runs), that’s going

to be tough for our offense to come back on.

“We need to keep it down under six runs and manufacture some runs

-- it’s all going to come down to having good defense and not giving

away outs, and just making the routine plays.”