Pirates don’t finish for Eccles

COSTA MESA — Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli believes both his Pirates and first-place Santa Ana are good ballclubs.

That much was evident in Saturday’s Orange Empire Conference game at OCC, won 3-2 by the visiting Dons, which featured two solid starting pitching performances.

But after runners are on base, great teams need to knock them in, and that was what frustrated Altobelli. He watched the Pirates leave the bases loaded with one out in the seventh inning on a pair of strikeouts, both swinging.

Then, OCC (18-16, 8-7 in conference) got runners to second and third with two outs in the eighth inning. Santa Ana (26-9, 13-2), perhaps showing the moxie that has led the Dons to first place in conference, induced another strikeout.

“That’s kind of been our song and dance all year,” Altobelli said. “Guys aren’t stepping up with runners on base and being clutch, being a hero. We had plenty of opportunities for that today.”

Pirates sophomore Ryan Eccles (3-3) pitched his first complete game of the year but suffered the hard-luck loss. Utilizing his curveball as a strikeout pitch, Eccles gave up two earned runs, struck out eight and walked just one against a team that came into the game batting .342.

“My release point was right on today,” Eccles said. “I felt really balanced on the rubber.”

But Santa Ana, unlike OCC, got the clutch hit it needed. That came in a two-out RBI double to center by Mario Ramirez in the eighth inning, scoring Andy Navarette as the go-ahead run.

Santa Ana Coach Don Sneddon said it was that kind of clutch hitting that has helped his team, which takes the season series from the Pirates, two games to one. OCC jumped out to a 10-1 lead on Thursday at Santa Ana before escaping with a 10-9 victory.

“It helped our mental psyche to come back in that game when we were getting blown out,” Sneddon said. “It allowed us to know that we can come back, but today was just the opposite.

“That was two great pitching performances; Eccles was very deserving of the win. That’s just a good old Orange Empire Conference dogfight.”

The Pirates hit Santa Ana starter Daniel Fenwick (8-0) the hardest in the first inning. Eric Oliver hit a two-out single up the middle, then Mike Ferraro followed with a single to left. Chris Lum then scored Oliver with a single to center.

Eccles retired the first nine hitters he faced, and allowed just one hit through five innings. But Santa Ana scored an unearned run in the sixth and used three seventh-inning singles to take a 2-1 lead.

OCC answered in the bottom of the inning. Ferraro (two for four) led off with a single and, an out later, Gabe Cota slapped a hit-and-run single to right. Chris Fung followed with a squeeze bunt down the third-base line, and Ferraro scored when catcher Ramirez dropped the throw home.

“Santa Ana’s a good ballclub, but so are we,” Altobelli said. “We expect to win every time we come out here.”

After a Dons’ error, the Pirates had the bases loaded and, as noted, couldn’t take advantage. It’s a problem that Sneddon can sympathize with, even if it’s not one that Santa Ana currently has.

“We don’t take anybody for granted,” Sneddon said. “We’ve been lucky, we’ve got some consistent hitting at times and that can change in a minute.”

Altobelli hopes it changes soon for the Pirates, who play at Saddleback on Tuesday.

Orange Empire Conference

Santa Ana 3,

Orange Coast 2

Score by Innings

SA 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 - 3 7 4

OCC 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 2 6 3

Fenwick, Mozley (8), Cendejas (8) and Ramirez; Eccles and Lum. W -- Fenwick, 8-0. L -- Eccles, 3-3. Sv -- Cendejas (3). 2B -- Ramirez (SA).