Cypress Chipped Away Until It Had 26 Singles, 29 Runs

The baseball game didn’t start out as anything special last Thursday when the Chargers played at Golden West in an Orange Empire Conference contest.

In fact, after two innings, Cypress was down by four runs and Coach Scott Pickler just asked his team to start “chipping away at the lead.”

When the Chargers finished, they had won, 29-10, and set Cypress records for runs scored and hits with 30. The Chargers had 26 singles and four doubles.

“It ended up being a pretty big chip,” Pickler said. “It was just crazy. It seemed like everything we hit, hard or not, had eyes.”

Cypress scored 11 runs in the fourth to take a 15-6 lead. The only innings the Chargers didn’t score were the first and the ninth.

Jeff Pickler, a freshman second baseman, tied a Cypress record with six hits, all singles. He also scored three runs and drove in five. Mark Selway, a sophomore outfielder, reached base all eight times. He had two singles and two doubles, walked four times, scored five runs and drove in four.

“(Golden West pitchers) kept falling behind in the count so we got a lot of good pitches to hit,” Selway said. “We just kept hitting the ball all over the yard. It was pretty weird.”

Brooks Morris, David Trentine, Jeremy Booth and Mario Opipari each had three hits and Augie Ojeda and Booth each scored three runs.

*

The great race: It looks as if there’s little chance of one team running away with the Orange Empire Conference baseball race.

Cypress (22-6, 9-4) is in first place but leads a pack of four teams by two games or fewer.

The Chargers play host to second-place Rancho Santiago (21-8, 9-6) at 2:30 p.m. today. Weekday games switch from 2 to 2:30 p.m. the rest of the season because of the time change.

Rancho Santiago is the hottest team in the conference, winning five in a row, including sweeping home-and-home series from Orange Coast and Fullerton.

The winning streak could be seven games except Saddleback rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth March 22 to beat the Dons, 11-10.

Fullerton (23-8, 8-7), Orange Coast (15-14, 7-6) and Riverside (15-10, 7-6) are two games back but are hoping to charge toward the top.

Riverside is at Orange Coast and and Saddleback is at Fullerton in other key games today.

The teams take a break from the race next week for spring break but start again April 18.

The conference schedule ends May 6. Three teams for sure and maybe as many as five from the conference will make the playoffs, which start May 12. The second round starts May 19 and the State tournament, in Fresno, begins May 27.

*

Softball: When Coach Nick Trani moved from Orange Coast, where he won two conference titles, to Saddleback last fall he had no idea his new team would do as well as it has.

But as the teams near the end of the second of three rounds in the Orange Empire Conference, the Gauchos are battling for fourth place.

Cypress (26-5, 12-1) is in first place; Rancho Santiago (20-8, 11-2) is in second and Fullerton (18-5, 10-3) third.

Fullerton is at 3 p.m. at Cypress Wednesday in the key matchup this week.

Saddleback (14-10, 6-7) holds a one-game lead over Orange Coast (7-14, 5-8) for fourth place and an outside chance at the playoffs.

“I wasn’t sure if we were going to win a game, so we are doing a lot better than I expected,” Trani said. “The parents are great. They drive all over to support us.”

One of the things Trani has yet to overcome at Saddleback is his former team.

Orange Coast has beaten the Gauchos twice in conference play this season including, 4-1, March 27.

“I don’t know what it is with us and Orange Coast,” Trani said. “Maybe they just get up to play against me.”

*

Going for 100: Don Watson’s Orange Coast women’s swimming team is closing in on its 100th consecutive dual-meet victory.

The Pirates should get No. 98 Friday, when they swim against Riverside.

OCC then travels to Cypress for a double-dual meet with the Chargers and San Diego Mesa on April 21 looking for the final two victories.

The last time the Pirates were at Cypress was last spring when OCC won its sixth consecutive State title and the 10th in 11 years for Watson.