Orange Coast College

Baseball: Pirates top Diablo Valley to advance to title game; "Alto" surpasses Mayne in wins

Sunday, May 24, 2009

FRESNO -- There is still one day left in the 2009 CCCAA State Baseball Championship and it's already been a record-setting weekend for Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli ... and the 17th-year skipper couldn't care less.

With Sunday's 12-2 win over Diablo Valley, the Pirates earned a trip to the championship game, set for Monday at 11 a.m. at Fresno City College's John Euless Ballpark. The win also gave "Alto" win No. 401, surpassing longtime skipper Mike Mayne on the school's all-time wins list.

If the Pirates manage just one more win, they will notch their first state baseball championship since 1980.

"Needless to say, I'm more focused on Monday's game then all of that personal stuff," Altobelli said. "Monday's game is what this team has worked so hard for. We just need to put the blinders on, take care of business and if we can continue our good play, we'll come home extremely happy."

In Sunday's win against the Vikings, OCC fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning. It was the first time in 55 playoff innings that the Pirates trailed for an entire inning (they trailed Ventura 1-0 before taking a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the frame).

The Vikings' lead was short-lived however as Coast responded with three runs in the bottom of the second and two more in the third to take the lead for good.

OCC exploded for 12 runs on 20 hits for the game as seven different Pirates notched at least two hits. Big hitters on the day included D.J. Arellano (4-for-5, three RBI), Ricky Stokes (3-for-3, two runs, one RBI), Beck Wheeler (2-for-5, two runs, three RBI), Scott Hong (2-for-3, three runs) and Mykal Stokes (3-for-4, one run, one RBI).

The game was broken wide open in the fifth inning when Coast received nine straight hits -- batting safely through the entire lineup -- and scored six in the frame to take an 11-2 lead.

That type off offensive support was more than enough of a cushion for starting pitcher Brett Wallach, who overcame some early jitters to pick up his 10th win of the season. The sophomore allowed just two runs on seven hits over six innings, walking four and striking out eight.

Standout reliever Brett Williams came in to throw the final three innings, allowing two hits, one walk and four strikeouts for his seventh save.