Orange Coast College

Baseball: PIRATES WIN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

FRESNO -- "When you dream, dream big ... as big as the ocean blue. 'Cause when you dream, it might come true ... when you dream, dream big."

That musical chorus, sung originally written my country singer Ryan Shupe, perfectly sums up the 2009 baseball season for Orange Coast College.

In a season filled with sadness, grief, frustration and even anger, the Pirates managed to find focus and determination through it all and on Monday, their hard work was rewarded with a state baseball championship.

After suffering an 11-10 loss to San Joaquin Delta on Monday, the Pirates and Mustangs returned to action later that day for a winner-take-all showdown and in the end, it was Orange Coast on top, 10-7, at the 2009 CCCAA State Baseball Championships, held at Fresno City College's John Euless Ballpark.

"What an unbelievable season," said drained and emotional head coach John Altobelli after winning the school's first state baseball title since 1980. "This team has had to overcome so many things this year and to see them work as hard as they did and see that hard work rewarded in this way, it's truly an amazing feeling. The word 'proud' doesn't give enough meaning to what this team means to me."

The road to the state championships seemed like a wishful dream for the Pirates (37-14) to start the season. After opening with a very average 9-6 record, tragedy hit the team when redshirt sophomore Jourdan Watanabe was found dead in an Irvine business park on Feb. 27. He was just 20 years old.

The team came together and dedicated their efforts for the remainder of the season in honor of Watanabe.

The ultimate final result was witnessed on Monday in Fresno.

In the opening game, OCC and Delta (35-19) battled back and forth. OCC led 1-0, Delta led 4-1, OCC led 5-4, Delta led 7-5, OCC led 8-7 and 10-8 before Delta tied the game in the seventh and won it in the 11th on a walk-off single by Cody Scott.

After that four-hour, 10-minute marathon, both teams took a break, then went at it again under 90-degree temperatures.

With a depleted pitching staff, the Pirates turned to freshman lefty Josh Lee, who made just his second start of the season. Lee managed to keep the Mustangs in check for 5 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs (three earned), walking one and striking out one.

"We've needed guys to step up all season long and for the biggest game of the year, Josh did a great job for us," Altobelli said. "That's why we keep all of our pitchers. They may not get a ton of playing time, but they will be called upon in big-time situations and Josh came through."

OCC staked Lee to an 8-1 lead through the first three innings, as Delta -- playing its fourth game two days -- found its pitching staff as thin as the Pirates' staff.

Ryan Sheeks and Mykal Stokes opened the bottom of the first with singles and after a sacrifice bunt by Drew Hillman, Brett Wallach ripped a two-run triple to right-center. Ricky Stokes followed with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 3-0.

In the second, Scott Hong opened things with a home run to left to give Coast a 4-0 lead. Ryan Dunn followed with a double and the sophomore would score two batters later to push the lead to 5-0.

Dunn, who was benched for last weekend's Super Regional Playoffs after a rough regular season, returned to the lineup and went 7-for-14 at the State Championships, with a home run, seven runs scored and six RBI from the No. 9 spot in the lineup.

"It was a hunch and I went with it," Altobelli said. "He came up to me after the Super Regionals in tears, asking what he needed to do to get back in the lineup and I just told him to work hard, have a great week of practices and we'd see from there. He's a sophomore and to see him step up like that was unbelievable."

SJD scored a run in the third, but in the bottom of the third, OCC took advantage of three Mustang errors and an RBI single by sophomore catcher D.J. Arellano highlighted the Pirates' three-run frame, giving them an 8-1 advantage.

Arellano, who went 6-for-18 in the tournament and played every inning of each game behind the plate in the Fresno heat, was named the tourney MVP.

"He's been our unsung hero this year," Altobelli said of Arellano. "We've got a few guys on this team looking to get selected high in the draft, or will be moving on to Division I baseball, but with D.J., he's just a hard worker that gave this team everything he had. When Jourdan passed away, he really took the leadership role of this team and the guys responded."

The Mustangs continued to peck away at the Pirates' lead and got as close as 9-7 in the top of the eighth before Dunn knocked a home run to left in the bottom of the eighth.

Wallach, who was named the Southern California Player of the Year, came in and posted a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his fourth save of the year, giving Coast its 94th state title in school history.

SEASON NOTES -- This is OCC's fourth state baseball title in school history, winning the crown in 1956, 1960 and 1980. The 37 wins is the most ever in school history (previous best was 35 in 1987). Drew Hillman (.363 batting average, 11 home runs, 53 RBI and Brett Wallach (.371, 3 HR, 48 RBI, 10-1 record, 111 strikeouts in 103 2/3 innings) were named to the 2009 Southern California All-American team, while reliever Brett Williams (4-3, seven saves, 2.01 ERA, 28 appearances) and Beck Wheeler (.333, 2 HR, 28 RBI) were selected to the All-Southern California Team.