OCC’s Comeback Kid

For every collegiate pitcher who stands atop a pitching mound, there are 10 more relegated to the scrap heap.

Brandon Dixon knows how it feels to be the latter, a forgotten man whom coaches hope will save them the indignity of conveying that lack of worth by simply ceasing to show up.

Dixon’s belief in himself, however, made such a conversation necessary about 18 months ago at Cypress College, where, after throwing seven innings in two and a half years since graduating from Tustin High in 2004, he was told he no longer fit into the Chargers’ plans.

It was November 2006 and, though Dixon had long passed the point where baseball was fun, he could not shake the confidence that told him he was good enough to at least deserve a chance.

“The reason I stuck around so long was that I knew I could pitch,” said the 6-foot-2 lefty who earned all-league honors three times at Tustin. “As a freshman, we had a really good team, so I thought that was the reason why I wasn’t pitching.”

He wound up redshirting that season.

“But then, the next season, there were some guys pitching that I felt if they were getting an opportunity, I should be getting one, too,” he said. “I got seven innings in two and a half years. I wasn’t coming into any close ballgames and I didn’t factor into any decisions. I didn’t start one game.”

So, no longer wanted, Dixon retreated to the confines of his parents’ home, lounging, lingering and languishing.

“I was out of baseball and I didn’t think I was going to play anymore,” he said. “I was just miserable. I didn’t have a job, I wasn’t going to school and I wasn’t playing baseball. I was a miserable human being. My parents started worrying about me and telling me I needed something to get me out of the house.”

That’s when Orange Coast College Coach John Altobelli, who had recruited Dixon out of Tustin, called to invite Dixon to come out and see if he had anything left to contribute to the Pirates.

“By then, I’d started to get the itch again,” Dixon said. “I came out in February [2007] and started working out, just like a redshirt would. I threw some batting practice and stuff. I saw the level of competition in our conference and felt like, if given the opportunity, I could pitch at this level.

“I came out in the fall [of 2007] and I started getting back into it. I was a relief guy and I really didn’t have that great of a fall. I figured I could be a lefty-lefty guy who could pitch a couple times a week, which was still more than I ever did at Cypress. I at least felt like I had a role, and I really wanted the ball.”

Dixon did well in his first few regular-season relief appearances for the Pirates, then Altobelli, along with pitching coaches Dave Bowman and Bob Flint, decided to give Dixon a start.

“I pitched a one-hitter and, from there, I had the confidence I needed,” said Dixon, who enters today’s 11 a.m. Super Regional opener against Cypress as his team’s ace. A first-team All-Orange Empire Conference honoree, he is 10-4 with a 2.87 earned-run average and one save. In 109 2/3 innings, he has allowed 99 hits. He has walked 27 and struck out 76 and opponents are batting .241 against him.

“We always liked him,” said Altobelli, who will decide today whether to start Dixon or sophomore Ryan Rosenhahn, another Cypress transfer, against his old team. “He came over here and he wanted to prove people wrong. He has been a workhorse and a bulldog and he’s been great for us. He locates his fastball, he has a great changeup and has a good curve. The biggest thing, though, is that he is mentally tough and a great competitor. If I go to the mound to try and take him out, he fights me. He says ‘I want to finish this up.’ Sometimes, I let him, because I like that competitiveness.”

Dixon called it a storybook, fairy tale season.

“Never in a million years did I think I’d have thrown this many innings or do what I’ve done,” Dixon said. “I’ve fallen in love with this program and I’m just in a much better place right now. But we’re not done yet.”

The Pirates (32-13-1) would advance to the four-team state championship tournament, should they win the four-team, double-elimination Super Regional that concludes Sunday at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. The Super Regional field also includes Cuesta and Riverside.

Dixon said the adversity he endured before coming to OCC has made him a better pitcher.

“It has given me a chip on my shoulder,” he said of the tough times. “I have a fire that people have told me they can see when I’m pitching. I attribute that to my experiences.”

Dixon said he is unlikely to be drafted, and, with only one year of NCAA Division I eligibility remaining, he will likely continue at either NAIA Point Loma Nazarene or Division II Chico State next season.

“Whenever I’m done with this game, whether I throw one more pitch and blow out my arm, or I pitch 12 more years and get paid to do it, I know I will have at least gotten my opportunity.

“Just being away from the game, I learned I love competing and I’m not made for a softball beer league. I’m made for pitching a meaningful game.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].