Orange Coast College

Baseball: Pirates snap losing skid with 10-inning win over Cypress

Thursday, April 24, 2008

COSTA MESA -- It's been over three months, nearly 30 games and exactly one pitching delivery makeover since Ryan Rosenhahn last started for the Orange Coast College baseball team.

If Thursday's performance is a prelude to upcoming outings, the next start will be much, MUCH sooner for the sophomore righty as he helped the Pirates snap their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win in 10 innings over visiting Cypress.

Rosenhahn (pictured right), who came into the game with just over 18 innings of work under his belt, threw nine outstanding innings for the Pirates (27-12-1, 11-6 in the Orange Empire Conference). He the conference's leading offense to just one earned run on six hits, walking none, while striking out two. It was his first start since changing his delivery from an over-the-top, to a more submarine style.

"I've been telling our reserve guys all season long that down the stretch, in a big game, they're going to get called upon so they better be ready," OCC head coach John Altobelli said. "That was one heck of a performance from Rosey. He did a great job of keeping the ball down and forcing ground-ball contact. We needed a big-time outing and Ryan stepped up and gave it to us."

It was a classic pitcher's duel as Cypress righty Richard Hanson matched Rosenhahn pitch for pitch. He allowed two earned runs over seven innings, walking one and striking out two.

It started rough for Rosenhahn as two hit batsmen and a Pirate error gave the Chargers a 1-0 lead. However the first of four Cypress double plays in the game enabled Coast to suffer further damage.

That lead lasted exactly two pitches as Chris Fung led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run to left, his first big fly of the season.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth, when OCC grabbed hold of the lead. Ryan Sheeks led off with a single to center, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Fung and scored on an RBI single to right by Wes Kartch, giving Coast a 2-1 advantage.

Cypress managed to tie the game in the top of the seventh with three singles, but with runners on first and second with one out, Rosenhahn coaxed another double-play grounder to end the threat.

The Pirates' best chance to win the game in regulation came in the bottom of the ninth when they had runners on first and second with only one out. However, reliever Jarrett Semler coaxed a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat, sending the game to extra innings.

Cypress had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 10th. With one out, Dennis Gerbaski walked, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.

Jonathan Hurst followed with a grounder to third, but even with the infield drawn in, Gerbaski bolted for the plate. Kartch fielded the ball and threw a strike to catcher Jourdan Watanabe, putting Gerbaski in a rundown between third and home. Watanabe sprinted toward Gerbaski and applied the tag on the baserunner for the second out, then, fired a strike down to Kyle Muhlsteff to retire Hurst's attempt to reach second on the play.

In the bottom of the 10th, Ryan Dunn singled to center and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sheeks. Following a strikeout, Kartch hit a comebacker to the mound. Semler kept the ball in front of him and had time to retire Kartch -- a little too much time. The righty's soft toss sailed over the first baseman's head, allowing Dunn to come around and score the winning run, allowing the OCC players, coaches and fans an opportunity to take a collective sigh of relief.

With the win, OCC remains tied for second place with Irvine Valley following the Lasers' 5-2 win over Santa Ana on Thursday. The loss drops the Chargers two games behind OCC and IVC for second place.

The Pirates will return to action on Saturday at noon against Golden West at GWC. The same two teams will play on Tuesday at Orange Coast, beginning at 2:30 p.m.