Pirates continue playoff road show at Santa Barbara

COSTA MESA -- The 2015 baseball season continues for the Orange Coast College Pirates as they travel to Pershing Park to take on Santa Barbara City College in the Southern California Sectional playoffs, beginning on Friday at 3 p.m.

Game 2 of this best-of-three series will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. with a third game (if necessary) on Sunday at noon. The winner of this series will earn a spot at the California Community College Athletic Association State Final Four, to be held May 23-25 at Fresno City College.

Back on April 21, very few thought the defending state champion Pirates (25-16) would be in the third round of the playoffs after capping off a forgettable 1-6 stretch of baseball. But since then, Coast has turned things around, going 5-1 to make it to Friday's matchup with the Vaqueros (32-9).

With the exception of Friday's loss at Glendale, the Pirates have been solid in all aspects of the game during this 5-1 stretch. They've outscored the opposition 34-9 in their five wins and will need to continue this stellar play against the 2015 Western State Conference North Division champions.

In Sunday's winner-take-all game against Glendale, the Pirates were led by the arm and bat of sophomore pitcher/slugger Stephen Corona, who picked up the win after allowing no runs on four hits with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. He also helped himself out at the plate by going 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, two runs scored and three RBI.

James McLellan blew open a close game in the eighth inning with a three-run home run, putting the Pirates up, 7-0, en route to a 7-1 win.

Sophomore righty Scott Serigstad was strong out of the bullpen in Games 2 and 3, throwing 3 2/3 innings of no-hit ball to pick up the win on Saturday, then, kept the Pirates in front with 2 1/3 innings of middle relief work.

Dominic Purpura pitched well in Game 2, allowing just two runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings and the sophomore lefty will be called upon again this weekend.

For the Vaqueros, they have dominated the competition this year with an endless barrage of pitching. 

Entering this weekend's series with an impressive 2.00 team ERA, SBCC is led by sophomore starter Sean Barry, who is 9-3 with two complete games and a 1.32 ERA, allowing just 15 earned runs over 102 2/3 innings with 102 strikeouts.

Fellow sophomore Justin Bruce (8-1, three CGs, 1.89 ERA, 44 Ks in 95 IP) and freshman Lucas Jacobsen (8-3, 1 CG, 2.57 ERA, 60 strikeouts in 63 IP) gives the Vaqueros a formidable starting three. 

Adding to the depth include a trio of relievers -- freshman Steven Ledesma (3-0, 1.50 ERA), freshman Davis Messer (1-1, 1.88 ERA) and freshman Jake Kelly (1-1, two saves, 2.37 ERA).

Santa Barbara carries a .288 team batting average into this weekend's series with the Pirates and are led by a trio of sophomores -- Matt Henderson (.340, 49 hits, 35 runs, 20 RBI), Spencer Erdman (.338, 52 hits, 33 runs, 24 RBI) and James Hill (.329, 47 hits, 25 runs, 14 extra base hits and 33 RBI). 

The duo of Henderson and Erdman have a combined 44 stolen bases, nearly half of SBCC's 90 team swipes this year (fifth-best in the state).