Pirates wrangle up Rustlers in doubleheader sweep

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College softball closed out the home portion of the 2021 season on a fantastic note, sweeping away rival Golden West College in an Orange Empire Conference doubleheader on Wednesday.

The Rustlers cruised to a 9-4 win over the Rustlers in the opener before making it two straight over their rivals with a 7-1 win in the nightcap.

In Game 1, the OCC offense was led by Mahealani Perkins, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, while teammate Kailie McKee slugged a two-run home run and finished the game with two hits, a run and three RBI.

The OCC table-setters atop the batting order -- Caitlin Bradley-Tse, Amaya White and Hailey Pichardo -- combined for five hits and four runs scored, while Ashley Diaz contributed a double, two runs and an RBI in a well-balanced offensive attack.

That was plenty of offense for pitcher Madison Knight, who overcame a couple of defensive hiccups and went the distance, allowing no earned runs on 11 hits and a pair of strikeouts. 

The Pirates (3-7 overall, 3-7 in conference) took control of the opening game in their first at-bats as they jumped out to a 5-0 advantage. RBI-doubles by Diaz and Pichardo and an RBI-single by Perkins was followed up with a two-run HR by McKee and the hosts never looked back.

GWC (0-10, 0-10) got to within a pair at 6-4 on a two-run single by Sennie Viramontes but the Pirates took advantage of some sloppy late to stretch out their advantage and cruise to victory.

In the nightcap, the Rustlers led 1-0 in the top of the first, but that would be it for the GWC highlights as the Pirates evened the score in the bottom of the first and used three different two-run frames to earn the DH sweep. Serenity O'Nan (2-for-4) evened the score with an RBI-single and in the bottom of the second, an RBI-grounder by Cassie Huezo turned into two runs, thanks to a throwing error by the Rustlers, putting OCC up 3-1.

OCC's offense in Game 2 was led by Karagan Varela (2-for-4, one run, one RBI), Korynna Anderson (1-for-3, two runs), and Sarah Rosales (1-for-3, one RBI), while pitcher Kaitlyn Steffins held the Rustlers to just three hits and one run over seven innings with four strikeouts. 

Both teams will go at it again, on Friday, at GWC, in another doubleheader, beginning at 12 p.m.