JC Baseball: Pirates fall, injuries continue
Spring break is looking more like spring breakdown for the Orange Coast College baseball team. The Pirates entered Tuesday ranked No. 1 in the state and alone atop the Orange Empire Conference standings.
After a 6-3 loss to visiting Riverside, the Pirates (21-4, 8-2 in conference) are tied for first with the Tigers (20-7, 8-2), and adding to their lengthening injury list.
OCC sophomore ace Kyle Robeniol left after pitching to one batter in the second inning with what Coach John Altobelli said was a problem in his left throwing elbow.
Sophomore shortstop Travis Moniot was also sidelined Tuesday with a sprained ankle, while Cameron Jabara, the team’s No. 2 starting pitcher who is 6-1, missed Tuesday’s game to attend a doctor’s appointment concerning a problem in his right pitching arm.
OCC is also without sophomore left fielder Luke Scott, who pulled a hamstring in Saturday’s victory over Cypress and may miss more than a month.
“We’re just kind of getting banged up by the injury bug,” Altobelli said after his team squandered a 3-1 lead through six innings, due largely to three errors that led to three unearned runs.
Sophomore Eric Wagaman launched his conference-leading 10th home run to erase a 1-0 deficit in the first inning. He then gave OCC a 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly in the second inning.
Freshman right fielder Ramiro Velasco homered to lead off the fourth for the Pirates, whose 27 dingers lead the state.
Sophomore Blair Lewis, who came in for Robeniol in the second, blanked the Tigers through 42/3 innings.
Lewis struck out the leadoff batter in the seventh, but a third-strike wild pitch helped trigger a Riverside rally.
A bad-hop single through the third baseman followed and a misplay on a double to the alley in right-center allowed the tying run to score and the go-ahead run to advance to third.
After an intentional walk, a sacrifice fly gave Riverside the lead for good.
A two-base throwing error by Wagaman, who was shifted from first base to third base when Nolan Powers moved from third to fill the shortstop void left by Moniot, opened a two-run eighth inning for the visitors. Both runs were unearned.
OCC’s 43 errors rank tied for 45th among 88 teams in the state and have resulted in 22 unearned runs this season.
“I think the difference today was too many free [bases],” Altobelli said. “We had three errors and [the Tigers] had none. And we had some wild pitches that cost us.”
Wagaman’s two RBIs give him 30 for the season, one behind conference leader Ryan Mota, who was two for four for the Tigers.
Velasco, who entered the game three for 28 in conference play, was three for four to lift his season average 28 points to .294.
Sophomore Luke Hussung, starting for Scott, was two for four with a stolen base and singled with two outs in the ninth.
J.T. Navarro followed with a single to bring Wagaman to the plate as the tying run. But Wagaman’s line drive to third base was knocked down, and converted into the game-ending out.
Robeniol, Lewis and John Balliet combined to post 13 strikeouts.
Altobelli said Ryan Randel, who leads OCC with four saves, will start Thursday in place of Jabara in the first-place showdown at Riverside at 2 p.m.
Riverside sophomore lefty Blake Tuthill went eight innings to earn his conference-leading seventh win in eight decisions, though his earned-run average increased from 1.69 to 1.93.
Orange Empire Conference
Riverside 6, Orange Coast 3
SCORE BY INNINGS
RCC 100 000 320 – 6 10 0
OCC 101 100 000 – 3 9 3
Tuthill, Agramont (9) and Gomez; Robeniol, Lewis (2), Balliet (8) and Teel. W – Tuthill, 7-1. L – Lewis, 2-1. Sv – Agramont (1). 2B – Mota (RCC), Miller (RCC), Velasco (OCC), Gonzalez (RCC). 3B – Velasco (OCC). HR – Miller (RCC), Wagaman (OCC), Velasco (OCC).
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
