Pirates sweep Lasers

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IRVINE — The Orange Coast College baseball team’s 5-2 Orange Empire Conference victory at Irvine Valley Thursday began and ended with relief.

Assistant coach Bob Flint delivered the lineup card to the umpires and filled in, along with the rest of the staff, for Coach John Altobelli, who was suspended for the team’s remaining games this season, by rule, after obtaining his second ejection this year in Tuesday’s win over the Lasers at OCC.

The more traditional brand of relief was supplied by sophomore right-hander Brett Williams, who worked three scoreless innings to earn his fourth save and close out the eighth win of the campaign for starter Calvin Drummond.

With the win, OCC, ranked No. 1 in the state, improved to 26-9, 14-3 in conference, and retained its place atop the conference standings with four regular-season games remaining.

Drummond allowed six hits and two runs in six innings, but Flint said, he began wavering as he reached 107 pitches to finish the sixth.

“There are a lot of teams that when their starter starts to get a little shaky, they have to put him back [on the mound],” Flint said. “We don’t have to do that, because we have [bullpen] help.”

The most consistent, arguably, unwavering help from the OCC relievers this season, has come from Williams, a bounce-back transfer from Loyola Marymount, where the former Santa Margarita High standout was converted from a position player into a pitcher.

In a Pirates uniform, Williams has posted a 1.72 earned-run average in 41 1/3 innings. He is 4-1 to go with his four saves and has allowed just 32 hits. He has struck out 29, including two Thursday, has issued only 13 walks, and opponents are hitting a paltry .215 against him.

“He’s good,” said Flint. “If we played four games a week, he’d be our fourth starter. Besides the physical ability, he has great demeanor. He can handle those crisis situations pretty well.”

Williams never fully reached crisis mode, but he did leave two runners at third base, including Anthony Gutierrez, who opened the ninth with a bounding double over third baseman Drew Hillman.

Hillman, a sophomore bound for UC Irvine, produced the game’s biggest hit, rocketing a drive over the left-field fence for a three-run home run that broke a 1-1 tie in the third inning.

OCC opened the scoring in the first when Ryan Sheeks and Mykal Stokes began the game with singles and Sheeks scored on a double by designated hitter Scott Stidham. Stokes was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on the double.

A walk and two singles by the Lasers (19-16, 8-9) knotted the score in the first and both teams added runs in the sixth.

OCC, which has won 18 of its last 20, 14 of its last 15 in conference, had 10 hits to sweep the three-game regular-season series from IVC.

Sophomore outfielder Ryan Sheeks, leading the regulars with a .390 batting average, had two hits, as did Stokes, Stidham and D.J. Arellano.

Orange Empire Conference

Orange Coast 5. Irvine Valley 2

SCORE BY INNINGS

Drummond, Williams (7) and Arellano; Reyes, Haller (6), Jiminez (9) and Gomez. W – Drummond, 8-3. L – Reyes, 4-4. Sv – Williams (4). 2B – Sheeks (OCC), Stidham (OCC), Burkhart (IVC), Gutierrez (IVC). 3B – Stidham (OCC). HR – Hillman (OCC).

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].