Pirates travel to Saddleback for Regional matchup with Bobcats

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team overcame a sluggish start to the 2024 season and earned a playoff opportunity and the Pirates will begin the postseason at Saddleback College, beginning Friday at 2 p.m. against the host Bobcats.

Game 2 of this best-of-three series will take place on Saturday at 12 p.m. with the third game (if necessary) to follow after Game 2.

"I think for the last two months of conference play, every series has been a playoff series for us," OCC head coach Nate Johnson said. "We knew we needed to turn our season around to play in the postseason, so we've been playing pressure-packed baseball for awhile. I think that'll be our advantage. This series will just be like the last two months for us."

It's been anything BUT a normal or consistent season for the 2024 Pirates. After opening the season 6-13, talk of playoffs was not on the minds of most of the Pirate Nation as they headed into the toughest portion of the season -- the Orange Empire Conference portion.

There, Coast (16-24) turned the lights on and went on a strong run early on, winning five straight OEC games to kick-start their season ... including a pair from the Bobcats (24-15). Coast finished the season in a tie for fifth place in the ridiculously-tough OEC, which was plenty good enough to earn the No. 20 seed in the 24-team playoff. 

When clicking right, the OCC offense has put up some strong numbers against quality competition. Sophomore outfielder Owen Wessel has led the Pirates with 48 hits, 35 runs scored and is a perfect 18-of-18 in stolen bases this year to go along with a .318 batting average, four home runs and 32 RBI.

Slugger Zach Leite enters this weekend's series with a .317 average, 40 hits, 22 extra-base hits, 10 HR and 40 RBI, with fellow sophomore, J.T. Crabbe close behind with a .308 average, eight HR and 36 RBI. Joining that Pirate trio with 40-or-more hits include sophomores Koby Williams (.285, 41 hits, 26 RBI) and sophomore shortstop Taylor Takata (.310, 40 hits, 14 RBI).

Pitching has been erratic for the Pirates in 2024, but a pair of sophomore righties, Jack Ross and Dimond Loosi, have carried a majority of the load for OCC. Ross is 3-3 with a complete game and a 3.53 ERA, allowing just 26 earned runs with 43 strikeouts over 66 1/3 innings, while Loosli is 3-4 with a 5.70 ERA and 48 Ks in 60 innings. If the game stays close in the later innings, look for freshman Jackson Gilles to come in and lock things down. Gilles is 2-0 with five saves and a 4.07 ERA with 19 strikeouts over 24 1/3 innings. 

For the Bobcats, while they did not sweep any OEC team in their three-game series in 2024, they found ways to WIN series, going 5-2 in all seven best-of-threes and come into the regional playoff winners in four of their last six, including back-to-back wins over Irvine Valley to wrap up the regular season.

Saddleback's sophomore trio of J.C. Allen, Makani Tanaka and Ben Castelli are the heartbeat of the Bobcat lineup and all three have put up impressive numbers. Allen hit .323 this year with 53 hits, 12 HR and 56 RBI. Tanaka led Saddleback with a .380 average, 60 its and 44 runs to go along with four HR and 43 RBI, while Castelli is batting .329 with 49 hits, 39 runs and 22 RBI.

With a .293 team average, the offensive threats are up and down the lineup.

On the mound, freshman starter Jack Wade has been steady and strong for the Bobcats, going 4-3 with a sparkling 2.09 ERA, striking out 71 batters of just 51 2/3 innings. Sophomore Tyler Burns (4-1, 5.24 ERA, 57 Ks in 67 IP) and Damon Anderson Wolf (4-3, 4.75 ERA) are the innings-eaters for the Bobcats, while relievers Zachary Allegro, Dylan Blakey and Ryan Seymour have a combined 10 saves and 92 strikeouts over a combined 91 2/3 innings. 

"Saddleback is a tough team," Johnson said of the Bobcats. "They have a solid lineup 1-9 and Jack Wade was one of the better pitchers in our conference this year. If we play our game -- solid defense, quality at-bats and attack the strike zone on the mound -- we will be alright. That's what we did well when we played them in season. Hopefully we can do it for another few games.

In that three-game series with the Bobcats back in March (14-19), Coast survived a late Saddleback rally and won the opener, 9-8, at John Altobelli Park. Loosli picked up the win with six innings of strong work and Gilles picked up a three-inning save for the Pirates. Leite went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs and two RBI.

Ross and Sawyer Spivey were the stories in Game 2 at Saddleback as the pitching duo held the Bobcats to just one run on nine hits with one walk and five strikeouts in an 8-1 OCC victory. Williams went 2-for-4 with two triples, a run and three RBI for Coast.

In the series finale, the Bobcat bats came to life in a BIG way and rolled over the Pirates, 15-3. A 4-1 Saddleback lead after five innings turned into an 11-1 blowout, thanks to a seven-run sixth inning as the Bobcats salvaged the final game of the series.

Tanaka went 4-for-6 with two runs and an RBI, while Jacob Beauchaine added four hits, two home runs, three runs scored and six RBI.

The winner of this best-of-three series will move on to the Super Regionals, which will be a three-team, double elimination series, beginning on May 9.