Several OCC baseball players earn All-OEC honors

Orange Coast College sophomores Chris Carlson and Keegan Yuhl swept top honors to lead eight Pirates who collected All-Orange Empire Conference honors in baseball.

Carlson’s .440 batting average is third in the state and he has seven home runs and 42 runs batted in heading into the best-of-three Southern California Regional series beginning Saturday at 11 a.m. at OCC. Carlson batted .471 with six homers and 23 RBIs in conference play to help the Pirates (31-4-1) win their first outright title since 1987. His 11 steals led the team and he posted an on-base percentage of .517 and a slugging percentage of .744, both best on the team.

Carlson, who began his college career at UCI, was a first-team all-conference performer as a freshman.

Yuhl, a transfer from San Diego City College who began his collegiate career at San Diego State was 10-1 with two saves and a 1.80 earned-run average. He struck out 60 in 75 innings.

John Altobelli, in his 20th season at OCC, was named Coach of the Year for the fifth time.

Also representing OCC on the first team were freshman pitcher Brandon Brennan, sophomore shortstop Joel Licon, freshman center fielder Boog Powell and freshman right fielder Bijan Rademacher.

Sophomore catcher Trent Woodward and sophomore reliever Ryan Evans were second-team choices.

Brennan, a bounce-back from the University of Oregon, was 9-1 with a 1.42 ERA. He fanned 55 in 82 1/3 innings.

Licon, who began his collegiate career at Loyola Marymount, hit .310 with 36 hits, 34 runs, three homers and 28 RBIs. He batted .355 against conference foes.

Powell, the leadoff man, batted .419 with 65 hits, 46 runs, 22 RBIs and eight steals in the regular season.

Rademacher, who transferred from Cal State Fullerton, hit .345 with 42 RBIs, 24 runs, six homers and 40 hits. He also emerged late in the season as the team’s closer, posting three saves and striking out five in four innings.

Woodward hit .375 in conference play with 18 hits, 13 runs and 11 hits in 18 games.

Evans went 3-0 with a 1.56 ERA in the regular season, making 15 appearances that included three starts.

The Pirates, ranked No. 1 in Southern California, are the No. 1 seed in the Southern California Regionals.

— From staff reports