JC Baseball: Pirates bounce Desert in opener
Bouncing back is one thing in the world of community college athletics, but rebounding is quite another.
Orange Coast College sophomores Kyle Robeniol and Travis Moniot displayed that distinction in distinctive fashion to help the Pirates open the season with a 17-1 nonconference home win against College of the Desert on Saturday.
Robeniol, who like Moniot, spent last season at the University of Oregon, struck out nine and allowed just three hits in five scoreless innings to earn the victory.
Moniot, the starting shortstop for the Ducks as a freshman in 2016, hit a two-run home run to open the scoring in the third inning and later added a two-run double to finish two for four with four runs batted in.
Thirteen Pirates contributed to the winners’ 17 hits, while Desert managed just six hits, all singles, off four OCC pitchers, who combined to strike out 16.
Sophomore designated hitter Daniel Hawkins also homered and had three RBIs, while sophomore designated hitter Jake Gozzo, sophomore center fielder Jacob White and sophomore shortstop Nolan Powers all had two hits for the Pirates.
It was the 10th straight season-opening win for OCC, which began last season with a 15-0 pasting of Desert. OCC has now won four straight against the Roadrunners, outscoring them, 52-2, during that streak.
“I think we have a good ballclub that is going to swing it,” said OCC Coach John Altobelli, in his 25th season. “It was good to see guys come off the bench and take quality at-bats. They are making things tough for me about decisions on our lineup for next game.”
Altobelli said Robeniol, a left-hander who was 3-2 with a 7.09 earned-run average at Oregon in 2016, when he struck out 21 in 26 2/3 innings, faced the minimum and did not give up a hit the first three innings Saturday.
He allowed two singles in the fourth and another single in the fifth, but did not allow a runner past second base. He walked one and hit a batter.
“I thought Robeniol kind of set the tone with really good pitching,” Altobelli said. “He threw a lot of strikes and set the table for our hitters to be able to loosen up and get the bats going.”
Moniot, who hit .168 with five home runs and 18 RBIs in 53 games at Oregon, yanked his first OCC homer inside the foul pole in right field to break a scoreless tie. His bloop double to left with the bases loaded gave OCC a 10-0 lead in the fifth, the first of two innings in which the Pirates batted around.
Sophomore first baseman Eric Wagaman, sophomore right fielder John Balliet and Powers, who was two for two off the bench, all had doubles for OCC, which produced more than 17 hits only once last season (18).
The Pirates scored in six straight innings, posting six runs in the fifth and four in the seventh.
OCC ended a streak of 11 straight games with an error to close last season, when it missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The Pirates had only eight errorless games during an 18-18 campaign in 2016.
Jake Scott, Michael Odgers, Alex Lopez, Jacob Doty, Chris Ceballos and Ramiro Velasco also produced hits for OCC, which visits Southwestern in Chula Vista on Tuesday.
Freshman Jacob Higareda also impressed in relief for the Pirates, striking out all three hitters he faced looking in the eighth inning.
NONCONFERENCE
Orange Coast 17, Desert 1
SCORE BY INNINGS
COD 000 001 000 – 1 6 5
OCC 002 261 42x – 17 17 0
Meza, Carlisle (5), Torres (5), Owen (6), Bidon (7) and Tanaka; Robeniol, Moore (6), Higareda (8), Tomazin (9) and Teel, Caballos (6). W – Robeniol, 1-0. L – Meza, 0-1. 2B – Wagaman (OCC), Balliert (OCC), White (OCC), Moniot (OCC), Powers (OCC). HR – Moniot (OCC), Hawkins (OCC).
