Pirates earn No. 11 seed; will face Palomar in regionals
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team earned a No. 11 seeding in this year's 18-team Southern California Regional playoffs and will play at No. 6 Palomar College, beginning on Friday at 2 p.m.
Game 2 of this best-of-three series will take place on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Palomar College, with Game 3 (if necessary) immediately to follow.
The Pirates who were ranked as high as No. 2 in Southern California this year, struggled down the stretch and finished fifth in the Orange Empire Conference. But thanks to the strength of the OEC -- which earned five spots in the playoffs, including the top three seeds -- OCC still managed a playoff berth for the eighth straight season.
The Pirates were 2-0 against the Comets this year, winning 4-3 at Palomar on Feb. 13 and 3-2 in 10 innings on Feb. 22 at OCC (coach John Altobelli's 500th career victory).
The 2013 version of the Pirates may not have that "big number guy" like they've had in the past, but with seven hitters batting at least .298 in the starting lineup, there are threats up and down the batting order.
Sophomore centerfielder Zach Nehrir earned first-team, All-Orange Empire Conference honors this year after leading the Pirates with a .329 batting average, 48 hits, 10 extra-base hits, 21 runs and 21 RBI.
Another first-team, All-OEC selection for OCC was sophomore first baseman Danny Jimenez, who finished the regular season batting .309 with 43 hits, 10 doubles and 24 RBI.
Freshman leftfielder Cody Bruder, along with fellow freshman Greg Espinosa, have been steady contributors to the Coast offense. Bruder is second on the team with a .328 batting average and 45 hits, while his 27 RBI leads the ballclub. Espinosa batted .307 from the No. 9 spot of the Coast lineup. He contributed 31 hits, 13 RBI and committed only eight errors in 113 chances at shortstop (.952 fielding percentage).
On the mound, OCC's Kyle Dowdy will take the ball for Coast in the opener. Dowdy went 6-2 this year with two complete games and a 2.39 ERA. The University of Houston-bound sophomore struck out 57 batters in 67 2/3 innings of work.
A pair of versatile freshmen -- Joe Reta and David Wilson -- will also see plenty of action this weekend, both as starters and/or relievers. Reta went 2-2 with two saves and a 2.38 ERA in 18 appearances (41 2/3 innings of work), while Wilson went 4-3 with four saves, one complete game and a 2.51 ERA, earning first-team, All-OEC honors along the way.
For the Comets (24-11 overall), winners of the Pacific Coast Conference (21-4), they turned things around in a big way. After starting the season 3-8, Palomar went on a tear, winning 21-of-24 down the stretch with all three of their losses coming by just one run.
Playing at Palomar will not be an easy task for the Pirates. OCC finished 10-11 on the road this year, while the Comets went 12-3 at home.
Palomar's top three hitters in 2013 include Chris Sanders (.369, 52 hits, 25 runs, 23 RBI), Nico Garbella (.333, 47 hits, 11 doubles, 29 RBI) and Dillon Smith (.331, 39 hits, 17 RBI, 10-10 stolen bases).
On the mound, the Comets are led by starters Vaughn Berberet (4-1, 1.50 ERA, 42 IP, 28 strikeouts), Anthony McIver (4-0, 2.17 ERA, 50 Ks in 78 2/3 IP) and Kyle Montiel (7-1, 2.40 ERA, 48 Ks in 78 2/3 IP). Closer Zach Wilkins has four saves and a 2-0 record with a 1.23 ERA in 17 appearances. He has struck out 18 batters in 22 innings of work.
