Pirates top Jags as 'Alto' reaches win No. 499
COSTA MESA -- As a milestone inches closer, it's business as usual for the Orange Coast College baseball team following Wednesday's 7-1 nonconference win over visiting Southwestern College at Wendell Pickens Field.
The win is the 499th of the career of longtime head coach John Altobelli. His first chance at 500 will come on Friday at home against Palomar College, beginning at 2 p.m.
"I'm just happy to be here," joked Altobelli following the win. "Of course, it's a nice number and something I'll remember after I retire, but for now, I'm just trying to get our team ready for conference play -- that's where my focus is."
The win improves the Pirates' record to 10-2 overall, while the loss drops the Jags to 6-3.
Greg Espinosa helped cap off a five-run fifth inning for the Pirates with a two-run double to right. Zach Nehrir and Ricky Navarro each went 2-for-4 with a run scored for Coast, while Cody Bruder went 1-for-1 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.
Freshman lefty Evan Porcella improved to 2-0 with the win, allowing just one run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts over six-plus innings. Relievers David Longville, David Wilson and Joe Reta each pitched scoreless, hitless innings and the trio threw a combined six strikeouts to finish things out.
Kiki Medina (2-1) took the loss for the Southwestern, allowing six runs (two earned) on seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts over five innings.
One more win for Altobelli and he will become just the 24th manager in the history of California Community College baseball to reach the 500-win mark.
| Coach | College | W | L | T | PCT. | |
| 1 | Don Sneddon* | Santa Ana | 1059 | 370 | 3 | 0.741 |
| 2 | Scott Pickler* | Cypress | 880 | 439 | 4 | 0.667 |
| 3 | Jerry Bartow* | Southwestern | 864 | 629 | 9 | 0.579 |
| 4 | Ron Scott* | Fresno City | 841 | 303 | 0.735 | |
| 5 | Jerry Weinstein | Sacramento City | 831 | 208 | 12 | 0.800 |
| 6 | Skip Claprood | Citrus | 772 | 370 | 0.676 | |
| 7 | John Noce | San Mateo | 772 | 412 | 0.652 | |
| 8 | Art Mazmanian | Mt. SAC | 730 | 418 | 0.636 | |
| 9 | Chris Pedretti* | Merced | 726 | 537 | 0.575 | |
| 10 | Len Bourdet | Fresno City | 722 | 374 | 0.659 | |
| 11 | Steve Friend* | Chabot | 700 | 329 | 0.680 | |
| 12 | John Osborne | Allan Hancock | 698 | 409 | 0.631 | |
| 13 | Dennis Rogers* | Riverside | 703 | 340 | 0.674 | |
| 14 | Wally Kincaid | Cerritos | 678 | 163 | 0.806 | |
| 15 | Ken Gaylord* | Cerritos/Long Beach City | 656 | 405 | 4 | 0.618 |
| 18 | Tony Bloomfield* | Cosumnes River/LA Harbor | 636 | 356 | 0.641 | |
| 19 | Bo Aiello | Modesto | 626 | 448 | 1 | 0.583 |
| 20 | Bob Vetter | Palomar | 623 | 462 | 7 | 0.574 |
| 19 | Jack Hodges | Saddleback | 580 | 362 | 4 | 0.616 |
| 20 | Pat Doyle | San Joaquin Delta | 568 | 274 | 0.675 | |
| 21 | Ed Olsen | Grossmont | 516 | 376 | 0.578 | |
| 22 | Joe Hicks | Long Beach City | 513 | 253 | 4 | 0.670 |
| 23 | Nick Fuscardo* | Fullerton | 514 | 569 | 10 | 0.475 |
| 24 | John Altobelli* | Orange Coast | 499 | 384 | 3 | 0.565 |
*Active
