Pirates fall in wild regular season finale

COSTA MESA -- The wind was blowing out and the runs kept coming, but in the end, the Orange Coast College softball team came up a run short in a 12-11, 10-inning loss to visiting Saddleback College, which wraps up the regular season for both teams.

Coast led 6-1 through five innings, only to see the Bobcats (12-22, 8-16 in the Orange Empire Conference) battle back with 11 runs over the final five innings to stun the hosts.

Emma Estep had a monster day for the Bobcats, going 5-for-6 with a double, home run, three runs scored and six RBI. Her three-run home run in the top of the 10th put Saddleback up for good. 

OCC (18-21, 10-14) pounded out 14 hits including home runs by Emilie Lapena, Taylor Andolsek, Gillian Gordon and Arianna Gaeta, but could not get the game even in the bottom of the 10th.

With the score tied at 1, Coast used a three-run home run by Gordon (2-for-5, one run, three RBI) and a solo shot by Gaeta to help jump out to a 6-1 advantage. 

Starter Ashlee Kean, who had retired 12 in a row through the middle innings, got into some trouble in the sixth and seventh innings and the game went into extras with the score tied at 7.

An RBI-single by Katie Schmidt and a run-scoring fielder's choice by Desiree McGruder put the Bobcats ahead, 9-7, in the top of the ninth.

But OCC responded in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single by Julia Douglass and a one-out, game-tying, two-run home run by Andolsek, forcing a 10th inning for both teams.

After Saddlback made it 12-9 on Estep's three-run HR in the top of the 10th, Kean tripled to lead off the bottom of the 10th. Three batters later, Lapena (4-for-6, two runs, three RBI) ripped a two-run shot over the left-field fence to pull OCC to within a run before Saddleback relief pitcher, McGruder, retired the next batter to end the game.

Whether the Pirates can sneak their way into a playoff berth or not, it's been a solid season for the entire team. 

• Lapena finished the 2022 season with an incredible 63 hits and a .449 batting average ... both tops among all hitters in the Orange Empire Conference. Those 63 hits are sixth-most among all hitters in the state!
• Kean finished with 111 strikeouts this year ... good for 20th in the state.
• Pichardo continued her stellar OCC career with a .373 batting average this year, top-15 among all hitters in the OEC.
• In just 31 games played, Andolsek came through with 29 hits and 28 RBI to go along with a .302 average and four home runs, while Douglass racked up 33 hits and a .327 average.