Orange Coast College

Baseball: Pirates run out of gas, fall to Saddleback

Saturday, February 28, 2009

COSTA MESA -- It's been an emotional 36 hours for the Orange Coast College baseball team and despite a solid effort, the Pirates ran out of gas against Saddleback on Saturday, falling 11-2 at Wendell Pickens Field.

"These guys did their best under extremely difficult circumstances," OCC head coach John Altobelli said. "Hopefully, they'll get some rest and come back next week ready to get after it again."

On Friday morning, the Pirate players arrived at practice to hear that their teammate, redshirt freshman Jourdan Watanabe, was found dead in Irvine. He was 20 years old.

After deciding as a team to play on Saturday, the Pirates held a brief memorial in Watanabe's honor prior to the game. Both teams lined the field as a solo trumpet version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" was played over the loudspeaker. Following a moment of silence and the National Anthem, both teams tried to turn the rest of the afternoon into a "normal" baseball game.

Saddleback (12-7, 2-0 in Orange Empire Conference) got on the scoreboard first when Sean Pervin -- a former teammate of Watanabe at Northwood High School, singled in the game's first run and as he approached second base, he pointed hands into the air in honor of his friend, Jourdan.

OCC (9-7, 0-2) fell behind 4-0 after the top of the sixth inning, but managed to stay in the game. In the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates cut the deficit to 4-1 on an RBI single to left by Mykal Stokes, scoring Ryan Sheeks on the play.

Coast made it 4-2 in the seventh when Beck Wheeler singled to right and scored on an RBI double to left by Scott Stidham. Stidham made it to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Dunn, but was stranded there by the Gauchos' pitching.

From there, it was all Saddleback as the Gauchos scored three runs in the eighth and four in the ninth to blow the game wide open. Trevor Whyte highlighted the Gauchos' 17-hit attack with four hits and three runs scored, while Chris Mata added three hits, two runs and an RBI from the No. 9 spot.

Stokes went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Sheeks and Wheeler each added a hit and a run scored for OCC.

Joe Richardson (3-1) picked up the win for Saddleback, pitching 5 1/3 innings and allowing one run on five hits. OCC's Calvin Drummond took the loss, allowing four runs (two earned) over five innings with four strikeouts.

OCC returns to action on Tuesday at home against Riverside, beginning at 2 p.m.