Sportfolio Journalism

On Sat, Apr 18, the Orange Coast College Pirates baseball team played host to the Saddleback College Bobcats in an Orange Empire Conference game at John Altobelli Park in Costa Mesa, Calif. With the regular season winding down, both of the community college programs in Southern California were looking for a vital win to help their cause in the conference standings.  

The ballpark for the Pirates is named after their late head coach John Altobelli, who managed the OCC team for 27 seasons and led the program to four state championships in the California Community College Athletic Association. Coach Altobelli passed away in a helicopter accident along with his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa on Jan 26, 2020 in Calabasas, Calif. The three Altobellis were on the same flight that claimed the lives of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.   

Current OCC baseball head coach Nathan Johnson says that he shows an E60 documentary of the program’s greatest figure’s tragic death to his players to remind them “If you come to OCC you’re not just playing baseball, you’re playing for those who played or in Alto’s case coached here before”.  

“You’re trying to carry on all of their memories and legacies and continue the legacy of winning”, Johnson added.   

The Pirates baseball team continues to play with pride and grit, with them showing those traits on a sunny Saturday afternoon game against Saddleback College. The game started with the Bobcats scoring three runs in the top of the first inning, but in the bottom half of the opening frame OCC got on the board with a two-run homer by left fielder Zach Boynton.  

Saddleback scored a couple of runs in two of the next three innings to push their lead up to three runs. But in the bottom of the fifth, the Pirates rallied with four runs, including a three-run shot by center fielder Tyler Covington that gave them their first lead of the game.  

Not to be outdone, the Bobcats tied the game at six apiece in the seventh inning with a solo home run by right fielder Jack Borges. However, in the bottom of the seventh, the boys of OCC retook the lead on an RBI single by Covington. This was an intense back-and-forth game and the final two innings provided plenty of action.  

In the top of the eighth, Saddleback tied the game again with an RBI single and after blanking the Pirates in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Bobcats took the lead back on a two-run double by shortstop Cole Strane. It was 9-7 Saddleback entering the bottom of the ninth and the OCC squad was down to their final three outs.  

In the final frame, the Pirates got a couple of runners on base but they were down to their last out with both runners in scoring position. Covington came up to the plate with a chance to tie the game and he did not hesitate, as he hit the ball down the third base line and the ball went off the glove of Saddleback third baseman Jacob Hudson and into the outfield. Both runners scored as Covington came up in the clutch to tie the game at nine apiece.  

With the game-winning run at second base, OCC looked to win this game on a walk-off hit, but the Bobcats intentionally walked Zach Boynton, who hit the two-run homer in the first inning. It was now up to Pirates right-fielder Gibson Rath to get the job done. On a 2-2 pitch from Bobcats pitcher Miles Chandler, Rath hit a ball that went up the middle into center field and Covington ran home to score the winning run. It was a walk-off single by Rath, who was serenaded by his teammates on the field as OCC had won their 19^th game of the season.