Orange County Community College Baseball : Orange Coast Wins 22nd Straight, 7-5

A freshman pitcher and a couple of reserves helped Orange Coast College move another step closer to completing South Coast Conference play undefeated Thursday.

The Pirates made it 22 wins in a row by scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie and beat Cypress, 7-5, at Costa Mesa.

The win clinched at least a second-place finish and a state playoff berth for Pirates, who are 17-0 in conference and 28-4 overall. Orange Coast leads second-place Rancho Santiago (11-5, 22-7) by 5 1/2 games with seven to play.

For Pirate pitcher Sam August, Thursday was a lesson in survival. The right-hander walked nine, hit a batter and surrendered 11 hits, including bases-empty home runs to Pat Longo and Trevor Hoffman. Yet he was still able to improve his record to 10-0.

August gave up two runs in the third and sixth and one run in the ninth before getting pinch-hitter Bert Lizarraga to hit a soft liner to second with tying runs on for the final out.

Cypress, which left 13 runners stranded, never could seem to get a hit when it counted. The Chargers left the bases loaded in the fifth and the sixth.

In the fifth, August struck out Jim Jackle looking and got Longo to fly to center to end the threat.

August said he wasn’t impressed with the way he pitched, but Cypress Coach Scott Pickler was.

“When the situation get tough, he (August) gets as tough as the situation,” Pickler said.

Orange Coast’s Paul Newman, starting in center field for Ralph Ramirez, who is out with an ankle injury, responded with two singles, an RBI and scored a run.

Todd Oshiro, playing in place of injured designated hitter Dave Staton, was 3 for 4 with a run scored.

Orange Coast Coach Mike Mayne said the performances of Newman and Oshiro show how much depth the Pirates have.

“The kids off the bench have done the job,” Mayne said. “That’s a good team in our dugout. The chemistry is just great right now.”

In other South Coast Conference action:

Fullerton 10, Cerritos 3--Jim Bennett pitched six strong innings and Morgan Flynn tripled in three runs in the third to lead the Hornets (10-8, 16-16) past the Falcons (8-10, 18-11) at Cerritos. Fullerton’s John Rice had a two-run single, and teammate Jeff Oberdink hit the 100th double of his community college career.

Golden West 18, Compton 7--Gary Renko went 5 for 6 with three RBIs and Chip Damato was 3 for 6 with three RBIs to lead the Rustlers (10-8, 16-11) at Compton. Golden West’s Keith Kaub hit his 13th home run of the year.