Community College Baseball: Pirates sweep Vikings
LONG BEACH — It was Game No. 38 of the season for the Orange Coast College on Saturday. But it’s the 16th year that Pirates sophomore catcher Jack Kruger has been playing baseball.
Kruger relied on his ample experience to produce the game-winning run batted in in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 3-2 triumph over designated visitor Long Beach on Saturday. The win allowed OCC to sweep the best-of-three series in first round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs at LBCC.
Kruger’s line-drive single with two outs drove home Jeff Nellis from second base to break a 2-2 tie and propel the No. 10-seeded Pirates (23-15) into the second round. OCC will play another best-of-three series at No. 8-seeded Glendale (21-18), beginning Friday.
Kruger, who singled and came around to score the Pirates’ first run Saturday, said his ability to not over-think the situation helped him relax and perform with the game on the line.
“At that point, you’re not thinking at all,” Kruger said of his game-winning at-bat. “It’s just the game and it’s the same game I’ve been playing since I was 5, so you just kind of do what you know and that’s it.
“To be honest, I don’t even remember what pitch he threw me,” Kruger said of Long Beach ace Julio Griego. “It was just there and I hit it and that’s about it.”
Kruger, a bounce-back from the University of Oregon, was one of three Pirates with two hits Saturday as Griego allowed eight hits, a dozen fewer than OCC amassed in an 18-3 triumph Friday.
Sophomore pitcher/designated hitter Stephen Corona, who surrendered two runs in four innings before giving way on the mound to sophomore Scott Serigstad, went two for three at the plate and started the rally in the seventh that allowed OCC, the defending state champion, to erase a 2-1 deficit.
Corona singled and pinch-runner Robert Longtree advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by J.T McLellan, one of six sacrifices for the Pirates. Freshman left fielder Stefan Panayiotou singled to put runners on the corners, but Tommy Bell struck out to leave things up to Kruger.
With first base open and Longtree – who was eight for 41 (.195) dating back to March 19 and was zero for two in five games since being benched – on deck, Long Beach (20-18) elected to pitch to Kruger, OCC’s cleanup hitter.
Kruger made them pay and Serigstad struck out the side in the ninth to close out five scoreless innings of two-hit relief and eliminate the Vikings. Serigstad, who allowed two hits and struck out six, did not walk a batter. He did not allow a runner to reach second base and improved to 5-3. The right-hander, who also has two saves, lowered his earned-run average to 2.87.
“Scotty was awesome in relief and that was really good,” said OCC Coach John Altobelli, who noted that Corona was less than sharp in his four innings, prompting the change.
Nellis, a sophomore shortstop who saw his 14-game hitting streak end Friday, also went two for four and sparkled defensively for OCC. Nellis capped the Pirates’ sterling defensive performance by ranging to his left to field a ball headed up the middle with two outs and a runner on first in the eighth. Nellis pounced on the ball as he fell to his knees. He spun on his knees before rising and firing to first to end the threat.
Freshman third baseman Nick Grimes also made a diving stab of a ground ball to his left and threw to first for the out to end the Vikings’ seventh inning. Grimes was also three for six with four RBIs in the series.
Kruger also threw a runner out at second who was attempting to steal to thwart another Long Beach opportunity in the sixth inning.
A sacrifice fly by Panayiotou put OCC up, 1-0, in the second inning, but the Vikings earned their first lead of the series with a two-out, bases loaded bloop double by catcher Robert Castaneda.
OCC tied it in the seventh on a safety squeeze bunt by Grimes.
“[Griego] is a good pitcher and you can tell why his record (8-3 with a 2.08 ERA after the complete-game loss to snap a three-start winning streak) is so good,” Altobelli said. “But we got just enough offensively when we needed it.”
OCC was responsible for two of Greigo’s three losses and won four of five games against the Vikings this season.
The sweep extended OCC’s postseason winning streak to 11 games.
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Southern California Regional Playoffs
Orange Coast 3, Long Beach 2
SCORE BY INNINGS
LBCC 000 200 000 – 2 7 0
OCC 010 000 11x – 3 8 1
Griego and Castaneda; Corona, Serigstad (5) and Kruger. W – Serigstad, 5-3. L – Griego, 8-3. 2B – Castaneda (LBCC), Nellis (OCC).