Pirates get no relief

CYPRESS ? Two pitchers more accustomed to answering the call for relief, wound up requiring some bullpen help of their own Saturday at Cypress College.

But while both bullpens faltered, Orange Coast relievers were more deficient, as Cypress secured a 9-6 Orange Empire Conference baseball victory.

OCC’s faulty bullpen nullified a strong starting debut by freshman Will Oliver. The right-hander, who had allowed 10 earned runs in 8 1/3 previous innings, spanning five relief appearances, stymied conference-leading Cypress (21-5, 8-1 in conference) early.

Oliver allowed just two hits and no runs through four innings, and the Pirates (16-10, 4-6) scored twice in the fourth to claim the lead.

After Oliver surrendered one run in the fifth, OCC sophomore right fielder Matt Meadows drove an opposite-field homer over the right-center-field fence in the sixth to put the Pirates up, 3-1.

But Oliver, who struck out six, equaling his total for the season, reached his physical limits in the seventh. After allowing a leadoff double and hitting a batter, Oliver fanned his final hitter, exiting after having thrown 110 pitches, including a 32-pitch fifth.

That’s when the trouble began for Orange Coast.

“Oliver gave us a great performance,” Orange Coast Coach John Altobelli said. “He has great stuff and we wanted to shake things up a little, so we decided to give him the chance to start. It’s too bad the bullpen didn’t do a little better for him.”

Taylor Green greeted OCC reliever Steven Brown with a three-run homer that put the Chargers ahead, 4-3. That was all for Brown.

OCC’s Chris Palmer then came on to issue a walk and two wild pitches before being lifted for Ryan Shopshire, who entered with a 2-0 count on Brandon Laird.

Shopshire was called for a balk to plate another run and Laird reached on a fielding error by second baseman Nick Rotkowitz. One out later, Blaine Wilson singled in the fifth run of the inning to create a 6-3 lead.

The Cypress uprising was too late to help Cypress starter Nick Rhodes, a Corona del Mar High product bound for the University of Hawaii. Rhodes (6-0 this season) got a surprise start when the scheduled Charger starter encountered shoulder pain while warming up.

Rhodes, a sophomore who had only made one previous start this season, allowed five hits and two earned runs, before Wes Etheridge came on to start the seventh.

Etheridge, aiming for his third save in three games, was shaken in the eighth.

Eric Oliver opened the OCC rally with a single, but was erased at second on a fielder’s choice. After Meadows singled, sophomore left fielder Stephen Schneider lined a fastball off the top of the right-field fence to tie the score.

It was the second homer of the season for Schneider, who hit nine dingers and drove in 43 runs to help lead the Pirates to a share of the conference title last season and a berth in the four-team state tournament.

“Schneider and Meadows have been struggling all year, so hopefully, this will get them going,” Altobelli said.

Schneider, who missed time early with a separated shoulder, came in hitting .241 with one homer and 13 RBI in 87 at-bats. Meadows, who was slowed early after being hit in the hand with a pitch, came in hitting .237 with one home run and seven RBI in 63 at-bats.

But OCC’s euphoria didn’t last long, as Cypress’ Taylor Green whacked a three-run home run off reliever Mark Haderlein in the eighth for the winning margin.

Haderlein had yielded just five earned runs in 17 innings this season.

“I think we beat ourselves more than they beat us today,” Altobelli said.

Meadows was 2 for 3 with a walk and three runs, Chris Lum was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Josh Bradbury, another former CdM standout, was 2 for 5 to lead the Pirates’ 11-hit attack.

Designated hitter Matt Miller had two doubles and a single to pace the Chargers.

Etheridge, who came in with six saves and a 1.20 earned-run average in 30 innings, got the victory to improve to 3-0.

The two teams meet again on Tuesday in a 2 p.m. game at Orange Coast College.