Pirates retain OEC title!

CHINO HILLS -- For the fourth year in a row, the Orange Coast College men's golf team has won the Orange Empire Conference championship. 

With a deep and talented group of players, the Pirates went 10-4 in the two-round OEC Championships, held at Los Serranos Golf & Country Clup on Monday. The end result left Coast with an overall conference record of 53-17, seven wins ahead of runner-up Santiago Canyon (46-24) and 11 ahead of Palomar (42-28).

The 36-hole championships began on the North Course (par 72) and the Pirates finished in fourth place (4-3) with a team score of 367. Cypress took the top spot at 356, while Palomar and Santiago Canyon each shot a 366.

Kyle Pollema led the Pirates by firing an impressive 3-under-par 69, while teammate Michael Chen was close behind with a 2-under, 70. Other Coast scores included David Pelekoudas (73), Riley Murphy (77), Kyle Melchiorre (78) and Marcus Mercado-Kiel (78).

In the afternoon, the teams took to the South Course (par 74), where Coast fired a team score of 373, good enough for second place. SCC shot a 369 for the low round, while Palomar (376) finished third.

Again, it was Pollema who led the OCC team with a steady 2-under, 72. But the true story of the Pirates' success comes from the equal level of outstanding talent up and down the lineup. Pelekoudas fired a 74, while Chen carded a 75. Murphy and Mercado-Kiel each came in with a 76 and Melchiorre shot a 77. 

The Pirates will move on to the 36-hole, 2013 Southern California Regionals, held at the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club, on Monday, beginning at 7 a.m. OCC, Palomar and Santiago Canyon each qualified for Monday's Regional.

The top 11 individuals with the lowest averages on the season earned All-Orange Empire Conference recognition and will also play for individual honors.  Those 11 include OCC's Chen, Melchiorre, Pollema and Murphy; Nico Mendoza and Austin Amaya of Santiago Canyon; Jordan Asper and Nick Bellstrom of Palomar; Fidel Rodriguez and Spencer Saunders of Cypress; and Dale Smith of Cuyamaca. 

Jacob Corbin of Santiago Canyon earned the final spot in the regional field after posting the lowest score at the conference championship of the remaining players. Corbin carded a pair of 72's for a 2-under-par 144, edging out Saddleback's Drew Bradley (71-75) and Eugene Wang of Palomar (69-77) who both finished at even-par 146. 

Asper was named as the Orange Empire Conference Player of the Year with a 73.1 scoring average for the entire season. All six Pirate golfers finished in the top 20 in scoring average, including five in the top 12.