Pirates make Alto look good
Just three games into the baseball season, veteran Orange Coast College coach John Altobelli is still figuring out the capabilities of a roster that has almost completely turned over following back-to-back state championship campaigns.
But with some successful moves in Tuesday’s 11-3 nonconference win over visiting Long Beach, at least Altobelli, in his 24th season at the helm, can be assured he is still on his game.
“It made me look great,” Altobelli said of his decision to summon freshman catcher Andrew Garcia to pinch-hit with runners on second and third and one out and OCC trailing, 3-2, in the sixth inning.
Garcia, who had a pinch-hit single in his only previous appearance during the season-opening 15-0 win over College of the Desert, laced an 0-2 pitch inside the third-base line for a two-run double that proved to be the game-winning hit.
“Garcia has been swinging it well and [starter Billy Haysom, who is hitless in his four at-bats this season, including two at-bats Tuesday] has been struggling to square balls up,” Altobelli said. “And Garcia had a really good [pregame] batting practice, so I just thought I’d trade straight up and give it a shot. And good for [Garcia].”
Garcia’s big knock, one of only two extra-base hits in the Pirates’ 10-hit attack, erased a lead the Vikings held since scoring three runs in the second inning.
OCC (2-1), ranked No. 1 in Southern California in the preseason poll, broke it open with seven runs on four hits in the seventh inning, when a pair of Long Beach errors helped open the flood gates and render all seven runs unearned. Four Long Beach errors led to eight unearned runs.
Freshman shortstop JT Navarro went two for four with a two-run triple to bring his season average to .500 and give him a team-best five RBIs in 2016.
Sophomore third baseman Nick Grimes, one of three returning position players, was two for five with one RBI and two runs scored for the winners.
OCC had hits from eight players to produce its second double-digit scoring output of the season.
Sophomore first baseman J.T. McLellan was one for three with two RBIs, while sophomore returning center fielder Chris Prescott was one for three with one RBI and one run.
Freshman Jaiden France came off the bench to go one for two with one RBI and one run, while Jacob White drove in a run and fellow freshmen Eric Wagaman and Thomas Waldenberger added singles for the Pirates.
Freshman pitcher Colin Ashworth worked six innings to earn the victory. Freshman Ryan Randel pitched a scoreless seventh and sophomore returner Jack Pabich finished with two shutout innings to help the hosts avenge Saturday’s 5-1 setback at Long Beach (1-1, ranked No. 20 in SoCal).
“I thought we had a good approach against [Long Beach starter Michael Hurtado],” Altobelli said. “We wanted to jump on the fastball and not wait until we had two strikes on us to try to do some things.”
McClellan’s single up the middle to open the scoring with one out in the first inning, came on a 3-2 pitch.
OCC also used aggressive baserunning, spurred by Altobelli in the third-base coaching box, to steal runs. The first instance came in the third inning, when Waldenberger scored from second on an infield single to shortstop by Grimes. Waldenberger kept coming around third as the Vikings’ shortstop threw late to first base from the hole.
OCC’s second base-running coup came in the seventh, when Balliet scored from second on a wild pitch that also plated Garcia from third. Balliet slid home without a throw from the catcher, who slipped on some muddy turf near the backstop after making a late break to retrieve the ball that had bounced off of him and over his head.
Altobelli also aggressively sent a runner around third from second base on a single to center field. On the play, the Long Beach center fielder appeared to rush a throw that sailed high, allowing Grimes, who would have been easily tagged with an accurate throw, to slide inside the line to avoid a late tag after the catcher had jumped to field the high throw.
“I thought the [baserunners] did a really good job of staying with me around third base,” Altobelli said. “And they made some really good slides at the dish. “I was just keeping the pressure on and keeping guys going. [Getting those runs] was really a positive thing.”
Prescott threw out a Vikings’ runner trying to score from second on a single to center field in the seventh inning.
OCC ventures to San Luis Obispo for a three-game series against No. 13-ranked Cuesta that begins Thursday at 2 p.m.
—
Nonconference
Orange Coast 11, Long Beach 3
SCORE BY INNINGS
LBCC 030 000 000 – 3 7 4
OCC 101 002 70x – 11 10 1
Hurtado, Roman (6), Castillo (7) and Gotta; Ashworth, Randel (7), Pabich (8) and Haysom, Garcia (6). W – Ashworth, 1-0. L – Hurtado, 0-1. 2B – Garcia (OCC), Byrd (LB), Miladinovich (LB). 3B – Navarro (OCC).
