Orange County Community College Baseball Preview : Opponents Will Be Ready for OCC This Season : Pirates, a Surprise in 1986, Look to Be the Best of a Strong New Conference

There will be no surprise version of the Orange Coast College baseball team this season.

The Pirates, who caught most of the South Coast Conference unaware of their talent last season, won’t fool anybody this season in the new Orange Empire Conference, in which play begins Tuesday.

The Pirates are the unanimous favorite to win the conference among the coaches and sports information directors.

OCC, Saddleback, Cypress and Rancho Santiago left the South Coast Conference and have joined Riverside and Citrus to form the Orange Empire Conference.

“There’s no question we should be the favorite,” said Mike Mayne, OCC coach. “With the talent we have we should be right there, but only if they play like they can.”

Last season, OCC was picked to finish fifth, but the Pirates won their first 17 conference games and had a 22-game winning streak. OCC was eliminated from the state playoffs by San Diego Mesa.

The conference figures to be among the best in the state, with four of the top 10 teams in the Southern California poll. OCC is second behind Cerritos, a member of the South Coast Conference; Rancho Santiago is fifth, Cypress seventh and Citrus ninth.

In Tuesday’s opening games, Cypress plays at Rancho Santiago, Orange Coast at Saddleback and Citrus at Riverside. All games are at 2:30 p.m.

A closer look at the Orange County teams in the conference:

CYPRESS

Four sophomores may hold the key for Cypress. Third baseman Tony Mendoza, shortstop Trevor Hoffman, first baseman Rick Nen and pitcher Erik Silvey will have to have good seasons for the Chargers to compete over the 24-game conference schedule.

Sophomores David Wooley, David Rice and Kevin Bumgarner will join Silvey in the starting rotation.

One trouble spot for Cypress has been at catcher. Over the summer, Jason Rolish accepted a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton and Mark Wolf is still bothered by a sore throwing arm and may miss the season. That leaves freshman Mike Parker, who is being backed up by converted outfielder Paul Boucher.

Bob Long and Mike Connolly are splitting time in right field, Rey Hernandez is in center and Paul Bunch in left.

“We have to throw strikes,” said Scott Pickler, Cypress coach. “The days we’ve been able to do that, we’ve been OK.”

ORANGE COAST

Six starters return from last season’s conference championship team, including co-state player of the year Joey James, who had 19 home runs and 80 RBIs in 41 games.

James is back in left field, but last season’s center fielder, Ralph Ramirez, has moved to third base. J.J. Culpepper is in center after missing much of the first three weeks of the season with a sore wrist. He will lead off and represents most of the Pirates’ speed.

Sophomore Mark Rassmussen and freshman Doug Long are in right.

Dave Staton, an all-state player as a freshman when he hit .403, is back as designated hitter, and Rex Peters has returned at first base. Mike Lujan started at second as a freshman but is being pressed by sophomore Todd Oshiro and freshman Manny Adams.

Freshman Bret Mayne is catching and freshman Mike Misuraca is at short.

Longo Garcia (8-2 last season) and Sam August (10-3) are gone, but this season’s staff should be deeper than last season’s.

Sophomores Jim Foley and Jon Dishon return as starters and will be joined by David Dawson in the rotation. Sophomore Scott Stoerck is the No. 1 reliever.

RANCHO SANTIAGO

Pitching figured to be the strength but no one has emerged as the leader.

Sophomore David Salcido is joined in the rotation by sophomore Mike Anthony, freshman David Tellers and freshman transfer Richard Gonzales, who was the Southern Section 2-A player of the year at Diamond Bar High School in 1985.

Tim MacNeil and Brian Raum will also be used mostly in relief.

“We have the best one through six I’ve had here,” said Don Sneddon, Rancho Santiago coach. “But we’ve been very inconsistent as a staff. . . . On some days we look like we could beat any team in the state, and on other days we look like we could be beaten by any team in the state.”

Brent Reese has moved from designated hitter to first base and has hit five home runs this season.

Scott Swearingen is at second and Nick Santa Cruz and Mike Sliemers are at short. Dave Kirkpatrick returns at third but is slumping at the plate and is in danger of losing his spot.

Outfielder Bob Brucato has hurt his ankle and knee this season and is expected to miss at least the first week of conference play.

SADDLEBACK

Last September, Saddleback Coach Marshall Adair was worried about his young team, which has 20 freshman on the roster.

“When we started I figured that we would really have a hard go of it in such a tough conference,” Adair said. “But now after I look at how hard we’ve worked and seen how long we’ve come, I’m willing to stick my neck out and say on any given day we can beat somebody.”

Freshmen Todd Bush, Dean Martinez and Danny Baird and sophomore Jess Feathers will be the starters. Sophomores Todd Musick and Barry Tovery will work in relief.

Catcher Rob Shoff is the only sophomore in the infield. Keith Hatch is at first, Steve Miller and David Shetland at second, David Stevens at shortstop and John Nigro at third.

Chris Latham will lead off and play left field, converted infielder Bill Lasher is in right and Mark Williamson is in center. All three are freshmen.