OCC survives, leaves Dons behind

Barry Faulkner

Players are usually content to simply leave every ounce of energy on

the playing field. But the Orange Coast College baseball team

apparently isn’t satisfied until it has left its opponents there too

-- yet another victim of the Pirates’ walk-off heroics.

Santa Ana, surely growing tired of dodging OCC celebrants on the

way to its dugout, was victimized yet again Sunday.

Orange Coast freshman designated hitter Stephen Schneider launched

an opposite-field double off the base of the fence in left field to

score sophomore catcher Josh Banda from first base in the bottom of

the ninth for the difference in a 7-6 triumph at OCC.

The victory, which followed a 5-4 walk-off loss to Santa Ana in

the first game Sunday, gave OCC (29-16) the Southern California super

regional title.

It also propelled the Pirates, who shared the Orange Empire

Conference title with Santa Ana, their first conference crown since

1987, into the four-team state championship tournament that begins

Saturday at Fresno City College.

The four-team state tournament, featuring two super regional

winners from Southern California and two from Northern California,

will have the same double-elimination format as this weekend’s event.

The second game Sunday was the sixth time OCC and Santa Ana have

met in the last 20 days and all six games have been one-run affairs.

The Pirates, who last went to the state Final Four in 1993, under

then-first-year coach John Altobelli, defeated the Dons (34-11) four

times since May 3, including twice in two days to win the super

regional.

“We’ve had some wars over the years and, this year, it has been a

battle every day,” Altobelli said. “This was a character check for

these [OCC] guys. They battled and they believed and didn’t give up.

Proud wouldn’t be the right word to use to describe how I feel about

these guys.”

One-run games have become common for the Pirates, who enter the

state tournament 11-5 in one-run games this spring, including nine

wins in their last 11 decided by a single tally.

Several Pirates have taken turns garnering hero honors this season

and Schneider, 0 for 12 the first 31 innings of the super regional,

including five strikeouts to up his team-leading 59, took his turn in

dramatic fashion in Sunday’s second game.

“I talked to [Schneider] between games [Sunday] just to try to

keep his head up a little bit,” Altobelli said. “I told him you’re

going to have a couple more at-bats and you can have a big at-bat.”

Schneider’s chance came after the Dons, who scored two in the

ninth in the first game to force a second game, deflated an upbeat

OCC dugout and rooting section when Matt Morris erased a 6-3 deficit

with a three-run home run in the top of the ninth.

“They got a couple infield hits and then we gave up the jack,”

Altobelli said of Morris’ clout, his eighth hit in 10 at-bats Sunday.

“But that’s baseball.”

But sophomore catcher Josh Banda walked to start the ninth against

ace Santa Ana reliver Anthony Slama. Banda, however, remained at

first as Luke Beck flew out to center and Matt Meadows struck out.

On a 2-2 pitch, Schneider said Slama threw a fastball on the

outside half.

“I was a little surprised he went outside, because the last time I

faced him, I hit an outside pitch off the top of the left-field

fence,” Schneider said.

Left fielder Matt Davidson chased down Schneider’s drive, and

threw to third baseman Brett Siegmund as Banda churned around second

to find Altobelli, coaching third, waving him home.

Banda, slid into the plate ahead of the relay throw from Siegmund,

sparking a wild celebration that included an OCC team dog pile near

the mound.

“Schneider has been struggling all weekend, but he came up with a

big hit and it was an incredible thing,” said Altobelli, who said he

never hesitated sending Banda plateward.

“Banda a guy who catches 18 straight innings [Sunday] and he’s the

guy who scores from first. I mean, that was outstanding.”

Schneider, who singled in the fifth and doubled and scored in the

eighth before striking his game-winning blow, said it was nice to

help the cause.

“I hadn’t felt like I’d helped the team the whole weekend, so

doing this for the team is great,” Schneider said.

OCC sophomore starting pitcher Steven Johns worked into the

eighth, allowing three runs and nine hits, in his first outing since

sustaining a skull fracture when he was hit by a ball in practice in

April.

“What a job he did,” Altobelli said. “But I think he just ran out

of gas.”

Freshman reliever Mark Haderlein, who got the win to improve to

5-0, also helped the Pirates prevail.

“We just pick each other up and we always find a hero,” said

Haderlein, who gave up Morris’ trying homer, but came out with the

win. He pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in the first game Sunday.

“People have been calling it luck, but we have a few more games of

luck in us,” Haderlein added. “This is what we’ve been working for

for nine months. We had 50 guys who wanted to be a part of this and

only 35 stuck around. And here we are doing wat no one thought we had

a chance to do.”

Haderlein said Santa Ana was a formidable foe.

“That’s a great ballclub,” he said. “We’ve played them six times

this year and we beat them four times.

“It’s just great to leave teams on the field and it’s what we’ve

been doing all year. It’s kind of our motto: to leave [opponents] on

the field and to get lucky. That’s what we’ve been doing.”

Banda was 2 for 3 with three runs in the deciding game, while Matt

Meadows and Stephen Cope, who homered in the fourth, each had two

hits and an RBI.

Beck drove in one run and shortstop Matt Cline, who went 4 for 5

in the first game Sunday, drove in two in the second game Sunday.

OCC scored in each of the first four innings to build a 5-1

cushion, but Santa Ana battled back.

Super regional

Championship Game 2

Orange Coast 7, Santa Ana 6,

Score by Innings

*--*

SA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 - 6 12 2

OCC 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 - 7 10 0

*--*

Johns, Haderlein (8) and Banda; Rieck, Tyson (3), Slama (6) and

Pascolla. W -- Haderlein, 5-0. L -- Slama, 4-4. 2B -- Morris (SA) 2,

Schneider (OCC) 2. HR -- Cope (OCC), Morris (SA).

Championship Game 1

Santa Ana, 5, Orange Coast 4

Score by Innings

*--*

OCC 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 4 9 1

SA 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 5 9 4

*--*

Sternberg, Brown (6), Peterson (7), Haderlein (7), Beck (9) and

Banda; Freeman, Tyson (5), Slama (9) and Vasquez. W -- Slama, 4-3. L

-- Beck, 2-1. 2B -- Morris (SA) 2, Cline (OCC), Forman (SA) . 3B --

Beck (OCC). HR -- Vasquez (SA).