Coast captures Memorial Cup with 5-3 win over El Camino

TORRANCE -- After a one-year hiatus from the Orange Coast College campus, the Memorial Cup is back in Costa Mesa after the OCC baseball team topped El Camino, 5-3, in Game 2 of the annual series with the Warriors on Saturday at ECC.

Saturday's win, paired with Friday's 6-3 victory on Friday gives the Pirates the series victory, bringing the beautiful four-foot, 40-pound trophy back to the Pirates after El Camino claimed the inaugural series in 2022.

The Memorial Cup series started between the Pirates and Warriors as a way to honor former OCC head coach John Altobelli, who died with his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, back on Jan. 26, 2020 and for former ECC player Slayden Mohl, who died during the Warriors' 2019 season.

"It means a lot to have the Memorial Cup trophy back here at our ballpark," OCC head coach Nate Johnson said. "Our players are not only playing for themselves and for each other, they're playing for this program. They're playing for the memory of Alto and (former Pirate player Jourdan Watanabe) and Keri and Alyssa. Since we started doing this, I've always tried to put extra emphasis on this series and what it means to both teams."

In the season opener on Friday, Coast grabbed momentum in the top of the third inning when, with one out and ECC runners on first and second, Pirate left-fielder Jake Taylor robbed Warrior hitter Daniel Murillo of extra bases and two RBI with an incredible diving catch in left-center. Taylor quickly got up and fired a strike into second base to catch the ECC runner before he returned to the bag for a double play.

In the bottom of the third, Coast carried that momentum into its at-bats and scored five times to grab the lead for good. OCC took advantage of a botched inning-ending double-play attempt and five ECC walks before Sebastian Moore delivered the biggest blow of the game, lining a three-run single into the right-field gap, scoring Kyle Koppelmaa, Kanan Treece and Luke Davis to cap off the five-run frame.

Treece, who finished 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI, helped give the Pirates a 6-0 advantage in the bottom of the fifth when he lined a home run over the left-field fence.

It stayed that way until the top of the seventh, when the Warriors tacked on a run, then, added two more in the eighth after the Pirates began to struggle to find the strike zone. Coast pitchers walked 11 El Camino batters but averted major damage by holding the Warrior offense to just four hits for the game. ECC stranded 14 runners on base.

Coast starter M.J. Gabaldon looked sharp in the opener, holding the Warriors to no runs on one hit with five walks and four strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings. Dimond Loosli (1-0) relieved Gabaldon and held the Warriors to one unearned run on one hit over 2 1/3 innings.

Chase Rousselo was the late-inning pitching hero for the Pirates. After entering the game with the bases loaded and nobody out, he allowed a run-scoring single, but then retired the next three batters without allowing any more runs, keeping the Pirates ahead, 6-3.

Jacob Odle pitched the ninth and allowed a double and walk before settling down and retiring the next three batters to collect his first save of the season.

The series shifted to El Camino on Saturday and after the Warriors grabbed a 2-0 lead through four innings, Coast struck back with another five-run frame in the top of the fifth.

Coast ripped six hits over that inning and thanks to two-run singles by Koby Williams and Treece, the Pirates jumped ahead, 5-2.

OCC starter Jack Ross picked up the win, allowing two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts before Sawyer Spivey collected his first save after throwing the final four innings, allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts.

Game 3 of the series will take place on Tuesday at OCC's John Altobelli Park, beginning at 1 p.m.