Community College Baseball: Vidrio comes through
Orange Coast College pitcher Art Vidrio said he only had two pitches working Thursday. But he also had the motivation of his two favorite words: postseason atmosphere.
The sophomore left-hander, who was 4-0 in the playoffs last season to earn state tournament Most Valuable Player and help the Pirates claim state and national championships, seems to always be at his best when the stakes are highest.
And the stakes were considerable for OCC against Saddleback College in the regular-season finale at OCC.
Vidrio allowed one run in 8 2/3 innings to earn the win in a 2-1 decision that gave the Pirates (21-15, 12-9 in the Orange Empire Conference), sole possession of third place in the OEC. By securing third — a Saddleback win would have pulled the Gauchos into a third-place tie and, with a tiebreaker advantage, dropped OCC to the conference’s No. 4 candidate for playoff consideration — OCC, ranked No. 5 in Southern California, is virtually certain of gaining an at-large berth in the state playoffs that open May 1.
Saddleback (23-13, 10-11), ranked No. 14 in SoCal, must await word on its at-large hopes. Pairings are announced this weekend.
Vidrio’s win upped his record to 7-1 and gave him 15 career victories at OCC, tying him for the No. 8 spot all-time with former heralded major leaguer Dan Quisenberry, who was a Pirate in 1972 and 1973.
“I told the guys it was going to be like a wild-card game and it would have that playoff atmosphere,” OCC Coach John Altobelli said of his pregame address. “Thank God we have Artie. Artie has just been a clutch performer for us for two years. I think he should go down as one of the best pitchers in OCC history, just by the way he competes. He has always been there for us in the big games the last two years. So [his performance Thursday] was just outstanding.
Vidrio, who said he had never heard of Quisenberry (a Costa Mesa High product who recorded 244 saves in 12 seasons, won five American League Rolaids Relief awards from 1980 to 1985, and was a three-time All-Star), said he was more familiar with the pressurized environment that existed Thursday.
“It really was a playoff-atmosphere type of game,” said Vidrio, for whom sophomore Scott Serigstad recorded the final out on a strikeout with a runner on third base to earn his second save. “The winner goes on and the loser goes home, so you have to stick with it and have a bulldog mentality.
“I felt good,” said Vidro, who had not been involved in a decision in his two previous starts, following back-to-back complete-game triumphs March 19 and 26. “I didn’t have my best stuff and I wasn’t throwing hard or anything. But [Altobelli] has told me to find a way to compete with whatever I have out there. Today, it was fastball and curveball. I just competed with those two pitches and it kept working until they pulled me.”
Vidrio, who lowered his earned-run average to 2.96, struck out six, walked one and allowed seven hits. He surrendered a leadoff single in the ninth, then retired the next two on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout that advanced the runner to third.
But Altobelli summoned Serigstad, a right-hander, to face right-handed hitting first baseman Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“[Vidrio’s] pitch count was 110 and we thought Serigstad, with his breaking ball, would be a good matchup [against Fitzpatrick],” Altobelli said. “I thought it was time [for the change]. The pitching coaches dictate those and I agreed with them. Artie had done his job and somebody needed to step up. Scotty did.”
The OCC offense did its job just well enough to prevail, though recording just seven hits. Four of those hits came in the two-run third inning, which began with a one-out double by sophomore shortstop Jeff Nellis.
Sophomore second baseman Chaneng Varela followed with a bloop single to put runners and the corners and Nellis scored on an infield single by sophomore right fielder Tommy Bell.
After a flyout, sophomore designated hitter Stephen Corona singled up the middle to drive in what proved to be the game-winning run.
Corona and Varela were both two for three for the Pirates, who snapped a three-game losing streak. OCC had lost six of its previous seven coming in.
OCC managed just 13 hits and three runs in two games against Saddleback, prompting concern from Altobelli, who expects his team to play the best-of-three first-round playoff series on the road.
“We have some work to do,” said Altobelli, who has guided the Pirates into the postseason in eight of the last 11 seasons, including state titles in 2009 and 2014. “We have to get some hitters back on track, because we are obviously not swinging the bats like we should. We have to make some adjustments, or its going to be a short playoff run.”
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Orange Empire Conference
Orange Coast 2, Saddleback 1
SCORE BY INNINGS
Sad 000 001 000 – 1 7 0
OCC 002 000 00x – 2 7 0
Key, Neeley (6) and Worden; Vidrio, Serigstad (9) and Kruger. W – Vidrio, 7-1. L – Key, 6-2. Sv – Serigstad (2). 2B – Nellis (OCC), Corona (OCC). 3B – Schultz (S).
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5