Orange Coast Holds Off Sequoias, 3-1
By John Van Gaston, Sports Information
Game 2 – May 24, 2014 – John Euless Ballpark - 6:00 p.m.
#1S Orange Coast "Pirates" (34-9) def. #2N College of the Sequoias "Giants" (33-12), 3-1
FRESNO – Looking to make an early impact in the California Community College Athletic Association Baseball State Championships at Fresno City College's John Euless Ballpark, College of the Sequoias sent undefeated pitcher Dylan Lee to the mound. Entering the championships with a 13-0 record, he surrendered three runs to Orange Coast College and came up short in a 3-2 decision. The Pirates (34-9), the #1-seed from Southern California, will now take on San Joaquin Delta College at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the championship semifinals. As for the Giants (33-12), they will be playing at 10 a.m. against Oxnard College with the winner advancing and the loser having their season come to an end.
Orange Coast capitalized on a pair Sequoias errors in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. L. Grant Davis reached on a one-out error and came home to score after stealing second, with catcher Dillon Kelley throwing the ball into center field, allowing him to score.
The Giants then tied the game in the top of the second inning on a run-scoring single by Nick Stoll that plated Chris Calistro, who reached on an Art Vidro walk. Vidro (8-3) struggled at times in his seven innings, as he walked a season-high four batters, but recorded outs when he needed to get out of situations. Relief pitcher Spencer Moran tossed the final two innings to earn his fourth save of the season, which included getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the ninth inning. He got Ross Feeley to fly out to shortstop Cody Nulph to end the game.
The Pirates took the lead in the third inning when Davis singled, moved to second base on a wild pitch and came home on a sacrifice fly by Chris Iriart. They picked up an insurance run in the eighth inning on a Tommy Bell double after Nulph led off with a two-base hit, extending his current hitting streak to 28 games. The win is OCC's seventh in a row in the playoffs and 13th in a row overall, dating back to late in Orange Empire Conference play.