Orange County Community College Notebook : Orange Coast Hopes to Reach Its Peak in State Tournament

Overconfidence is not a concern of the Orange Coast College baseball team, which begins play in the state community college baseball tournament Friday at San Jose.

OCC (33-11), one of four teams from the south, plays Los Medanos (28-11) of Pittsburg, one of the four teams from the north, in the first round of the double-elimination tournament at 11 a.m. at Santa Clara University.

No team from the north has won the state title since Diablo Valley in 1977.

“This is not a team that will be going in overconfident. Not by a longshot,” Mike Mayne, OCC coach, said Sunday after his team defeated Oxnard, 14-7, to win a berth in the tournament. “This team hasn’t come close to peaking. I don’t think we’re playing close to our capabilities.”

Mayne really likes one aspect about his team, though--it can hit.

Joey James, who hit 19 home runs and had 80 RBIs last season, is hitting .371 with 14 home runs and 60 RBIs this season. He has reached base safely in 42 of 44 games this season and in 83 of 86 games in his career. James now has an 11-game hitting streak and is 22 for 47 during the streak with 4 home runs and 5 doubles.

OCC, which won the Orange Empire Conference championship, hit a single-season-record 46 home runs and scored a school-record 420 runs (9.55 a game).

But OCC pitchers have allowed a school-record 256 runs (5.80 a game) with an earned-run average of 4.57.

The Orange Coast staff got a boost recently from David Dawson (4-3), who recovered from a sore elbow that kept him out two weeks. In his last two appearances, he has earned two victories with 8 innings of shutout relief. Mike Misuraca, who played shortstop most of the season, pitched a complete game in the 14-7 victory over Oxnard and is expected to be in the rotation at San Jose.

“We can swing the bats, there’s no question about that,” said Mayne, who coached OCC when it won it’s last state title in 1980. “We have the capability, it’s just a matter of getting into the right frame of mind.”

In other first-round games: College of the Canyons (32-8-1), the defending state champion, plays Butte (28-11) at San Jose City College at 11 a.m.; Cerritos (40-4), which won the title in 1985, plays Contra Costa (28-11) at San Jose at 2:30 p.m., and San Bernardino Valley (33-11) plays Sacramento City (46-6) at Santa Clara at 2:30 p.m.

Rancho Santiago and Saddleback, which tied for the Orange Empire Conference softball title, could meet again in the state tournament this weekend at Palomar. Rancho Santiago, the two-time defending state champion, won the regional. Saddleback was second and also advances to the final.

Rancho Santiago (34-9) plays San Joaquin Delta (36-9) and Saddleback (35-11) plays Sacramento City (36-9) in first-round games at noon Saturday. The second round is Saturday and the final is Sunday in the double-elimination tournament.

The Orange Coast women’s tennis team won state titles in both the dual team and individual championships last weekend at West Valley College in San Jose.

The Pirates defeated American River, 5-1, to win the team title and scored nine points to win the individual title.

In an all-OCC doubles finals, Newman and Carrie Harris defeated Jill Quartarara and Becky Recavarren, 6-3, 6-3.

OCC’s Lisa Newman advanced to the singles’ semifinal. She lost to Katie Steritz of Chaffey, 7-5, 6-1, in the semifinals.

Defending state champion Fullerton and Palomar tied for second with four points.

Community College Notes

Joey James and Brent Reese of Rancho Santiago were voted the most valuable players and Mike Mayne the coach of the year in the Orange Empire Conference in a vote of the conference’s coaches. The first-team selections from OCC were pitcher Jim Foley, catcher Brent Mayne, first baseman Rex Peters, shortstop Mike Misuraca, outfielder Mark Rasmussen and designated hitter Dave Staton. Other first-team selections: pitcher David Tellers and outfielders Frank Appice, Bob Brucato and Troy Barnhart from Rancho Santiago; outfielders Paul Bunch and Rey Hernandez from Cypress, and infielder Bill Lasher from Saddleback. . . . Bret Barbarie of Cerritos was voted the South Coast Conference’s most valuable baseball player and George Horton of Cerritos was the coach of the year. Other first-team selections were first baseman Tom Smythe and second baseman Chip Damato from Golden West and designated hitter Andy Ruscitto from Fullerton. . . . Kelli Thomas, an outfielder on Saddleback’s softball team, has signed a letter of intent to attend United States International University.