Pirates find a way to win in series opener with Cougars

COSTA MESA -- In a game that could be described as "entertaining" if not "baseball-pretty", the Orange Coast College Pirates found a way to pull out an 8-6 win over visiting Cuesta College on Thursday in Game 1 of this weekend's three-game series.

Despite committing five errors to a feisty Cuesta ballclub, the Pirates (3-0) managed to win with some help from some big bats and the right arm of reliever Blair Lewis.

After Cuesta (2-3) tied the game at 6 in the the top of the fifth on one hit and three OCC errors, Lewis battled through it and tossed the final five innings to pick up the win, retiring 11 in a row at one point. He allowed one unearned run on two hits with no walks and three strikeouts just two days after picking up the save in Coast's 5-3 win at Southwestern College.

Eric Wagaman went 3-for-4, including a single, double, home run and four RBI, while Travis Moniot added two hits and two runs and Walker Keller chipped in a triple, three runs and one RBI.

After missing out on an early lead, The Pirates fell behind 3-0, courtesy of a couple of OCC errors, a two-run double by Robbie Silva and a sacrifice fly by Stephen Chipman.

In the bottom of the third, Coast made it 3-1 when Keller was hit by a pitch and scored on a Wagaman double to left-center.

In a crazy bottom of the fourth, Nolan Powers reached on an infield single with one out. Alex Lopez followed with a single to center and when the ball went under the glove of Cuesta OF Justin Wear, Powers came around to score and Lopez ended up at third, making it 3-2.

With Jacob White batting, Coast attempted a squeeze play, but White missed the pitch, putting Lopez in a jam. The Cuesta catcher came running towards Silva, who jab-stepped around the charging Cougar and avoided any tag to score the tying run.

Two batters later, Moniot doubled and scored on a Keller triple to put Coast in front, 4-3. The next batter, Wagaman, launched a high fastball deep over the left-field fence for a two-run home run, making it 6-3, Pirates.

In the top of the fifth, Cuesta used a pair of hit batters, three OCC errors and an RBI-single by George Sammon to even the game at 6 before the Pirates grabbed the lead for good in the sixth.

A Moniot walk and a Keller hit-by-pitch was followed up with a wild pitch, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. Wagaman battled Cuesta reliever Jed Moscot (0-1) and earned a sacrifice fly to right to put Coast up, 7-6.

In another hard-fought at-bat, Daniel Hawkins lined a single to right to bring in Keller, making it 8-6.

Lewis (1-0) took over from there, and retired the Cougars in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Cuesta had the tying runs on base in the ninth, but Lewis coaxed Wear into a harmless grounder to first to end the game.

The win gives longtime Pirate head coach John Altobelli No. 599 for his career. Only 19 other coaches in the history of California Community College baseball history have won 600-or-more games and Altobelli hopes to become No. 20 on Friday in Game 2 of this three-game series with the Cougars. Game time is at 2 p.m. at Wendell Pickens Field.