OCC pitcher No. 1

Orange Coast College sophomore Brett Wallach, who led the Pirates to the school’s first state baseball championship since 1980, tops four OCC players to earn All-Southern California honors.

Wallach and fellow sophomore Drew Hillman made the Southern California All-American team, with Wallach being named Player of the Year.

The pitcher and first baseman was 10-1 on the mound with a .2.26 earned-run average. He also had four saves and had a win and a save in three OCC state tournament wins.

Wallach, the son of former major leaguer Tim Wallach, hit .371 with three home runs and 48 runs batted in for the Pirates, who finished 37-14 to set a school single-season record for wins. Wallach is bound for Long Beach State.

Hillman, a repeat Southern California All-American performer, hit .363 and led the team in home runs (11) and RBIs (53). The UC Irvine-bound third baseman’s 21 doubles were a school single-season record and 35 of his 77 hits went for extra bases to produce a team-best .646 slugging percentage.

Sophomore pitcher Brett Williams and sophomore shortstop Beck Wheeler were named to the All-Southern California team.

Williams, a bounce-back from Loyola Marymount, where he was a position player, was 4-3 with seven saves and a team-best 2.01 ERA. He allowed just 52 hits in 69 innings and had 47 strikeouts. He held opponents to a .217 batting average. He appeared in 28 games, 25 in relief.

Wheeler, a bounce-back from the University of the Pacific, hit .333 with two home runs and 28 RBIs.

— From staff reports