Pirates’ coach hits 300

Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, in his 14th season at the helm of the Pirate ship, reached a personal milestone on Tuesday.

When Orange Coast defeated San Jacinto, 5-0, in the first of two tournament games at Palomar College, it marked Altobelli’s 300th victory as the Pirates’ head coach.

In between games, Pirates players and assistant coaches presented Altobelli with a plaque the shape of home plate commemorating the occasion. Altobelli said he was unaware of the number of wins he had accumulated.

“I didn’t give any thought to it until my assistant coaches and players called me over between games and showed me the plaque,” Altobelli said. “Everybody seemed to know about it but me.”

Josh Belovsky, a sixth year assistant coach for the Pirates, said Altobelli is a great players’ coach. “He wants the best for the guys, not just in terms of wins but in terms of getting an education and having success.”

Altobelli and the Pirates broke through last season by winning their first Orange Empire Conference title in his tenure, capturing two regional playoff series and reaching the four-team state tournament in Fresno. Altobelli was named the Orange Empire Conference Coach of the Year last season.

“Last year was very special, that was my first conference championship,” he said. “Winning the last game against Santa Ana to make it to the final four was obviously really special.”

Altobelli attempted to downplay Tuesday’s milestone.

“I just can’t believe I’ve been doing it this long,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of good teams and good players. But there’s a lot more to it than wins and losses. It’s more about shaping individuals and helping them move on and get their degrees.”

Altobelli’s Pirates are struggling this season with lack of consistency and no lack of injuries. Orange Coast is 18-15 overall, 5-10 in the Orange Empire Conference. The team has six conference games left before the conference mini-tournament, starting with a two-game set against Santa Ana on April 18 and 20.

“We’re scraping a bit, we’re banged up and we’re struggling to score runs,” Altobelli said. “We just have to get the players to buy into the adjustments we’re trying to make with their swings.”

Cypress (27-4, 14-1 in conference) and Santa Ana (22-9, 10-5) sit atop the conference standings, followed by Saddleback (23-7, 9-6) and Riverside (23-9, 9-6). OCC is tied with Golden West (18-15, 5-10) and Irvine Valley (14-17, 5-10) for fifth.

Altobelli said he feels there’s time to turn things around and make a postseason run.

“Everybody is beating each other up in our conference,” he said. “We’re only a couple games out of third place. There’s still a lot of baseball to be played.”