Orange Coast College

Baseball: Pirates ready for State Final Four!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

COSTA MESA -- One of the most memorable seasons in Orange Coast College baseball history concludes this weekend at the 2009 COA/CCCAA State Baseball Championships, held at Fresno City College.

“It’s been an incredible run,” OCC head coach John Altobelli said. “These guys have worked extremely hard, overcoming some huge emotional setbacks throughout the season. We’re one of four teams left in the state. If we can continue to play the way we’re capable of, there’s no reason why we can’t be the team on top at the end of it. Win or lose though, it’s a weekend the players, coaches and fans will never forget.”

The Pirates (34-13) are the No. 1 seed out of Southern California, joining fellow Orange Empire Conference resident, Santa Ana (37-11) from the south. In the north, a pair of Big 8 Conference teams -- Diablo Valley (35-15) and San Joaquin Delta (32-17) will make the trip to FCC this weekend.

OCC’s road to Fresno has been an emotional trip to say the least. After an 8-6 start to the season, the Pirates’ faith was rocked to the ground when redshirt sophomore catcher Jourdan Watanabe was found dead in an Irvine business park on Feb. 27. He was just 20 years old.

That same weekend, Coast teammate Trevor McDonald was in critical condition after picking up a life-threatening flesh-eating infection from a spike mark in the back of his leg earlier that week while playing against Chaffey.

“It was a devastating week for everyone involved,” Altobelli recalled. “The players were a wreck, I was a wreck, the coaches were a wreck … we left it up to the players to decide whether to play that Saturday against Saddleback and they chose to play in honor of Jourdan and T-Mac. The way the players, parents and coaches have rallied around each other, not only during that tragic week, but through the remainder of the season, has truly been incredible to witness.”

OCC lost that game to the Gauchos, but what followed was a run for the ages. Despite also losing Altobelli for the remainder of the season back on April 14, the Pirates have gone 26-6 since that loss to Saddleback. That winning run led to a share of the Orange Empire Conference title and, thanks to five straight postseason wins, they have earned a spot in the State Final Four.

It’s been the playoffs where the Pirates have saved their best baseball for last. Led by the pitching foursome of Chris Licon, Brett Wallach, Calvin Drummond and Brett Williams, Coast has gone 5-0 while holding the opposition to three runs or less in four of those wins. In fact, the aforementioned pitching quartet has allowed just five earned runs over the last 45 innings for a 1.00 ERA, walking just six, while striking out 45.

While the pitchers have kept runs off the scoreboard, the OCC offense has been busy posting some impressive numbers of their own. In their five postseason games, the Pirate bats have combined to hit .356 as a team with 67 hits, 47 runs, 15 extra-base hits and 10 stolen bases. Five players are hitting .350 or better in the playoffs, including Mykal Stokes (.450, nine hits), Ryan Sheeks (.440, 11 hits, nine runs scored), Drew Hillman (.400, 10 RBI), D.J. Arellano (.400, seven RBI) and Wallach (.350, five RBI). In addition to that pack of players, sophomore Ricky Stokes has come through with runners on base, driving in eight runs in the playoffs, while hitting .316.

“It could have been so easy to pack it in this season, but these guys believed in themselves and played their hearts out for Jourdan and Trevor,” Altobelli said. “It’s been a very special year – one I’ll never forget.”