Power Surge Fuels Orange Coast’s Charge
John Altobelli, the Orange Coast baseball coach, has a certain amount of empathy, albeit small, for the opposing pitchers giving up home runs to the heart of the Pirates’ order.
Altobelli often is the Pirates’ batting practice pitcher and has seen some of his best throws hit well over the fence.
Brandon Thompson, a sophomore catcher from Edison High who bats third, has an Orange County-leading 13 home runs and fourth-place hitter Ryan Clark (a freshman first baseman) has 11.
Jason Reuss, a freshman outfielder and designated hitter who bats fifth, hit four home runs last week and has 10 overall.
It is the first time OCC has had three players in double figures in home runs in the 51-year history of its baseball program. Reuss has three grand slams, which is also an OCC single-season record.
Two of those grand slams as well as a solo home run came in an 11-5 victory over Cypress last Saturday, but Altobelli wasn’t too surprised because he said Reuss has the most power of any player he has seen. Altobelli is counting his time as a player at Newport Harbor High, Golden West College and Houston and one year in the minors as well as an assistant coach for five seasons at UC Irvine, when making that statement.
“When [Reuss] came up for the second time with the bases loaded,” Altobelli said, “I remember saying to myself ‘Come on Jason, you’ve had a good day, how about a great day.’ ”
The power burst is something new for Altobelli, who is in his seventh season. Orange Coast has hit no more than 24 home runs and had as few as 10 in two different seasons under Altobelli.
But OCC (21-14, 8-7 in the Orange Empire Conference) already has 41 home runs this season with nine regular-season games left. The OCC record is 54 set in 1987.
But home runs are only part of the story at OCC. The Pirates are also getting solid pitching, have won nine of 10 and are a threat to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
“[The home runs] make my job easier,” Altobelli said. “But we don’t have anybody trying to just [hit home runs]. They are line-drive guys and they know it.”
MOVING ON
Natalie Weeks, a sophomore center on the Orange Coast women’s basketball team, has accepted a scholarship offer to attend Idaho.
Weeks averaged 13 points and nine rebounds before going down with a knee injury with about a month left in the season.
Three members of the state champion Cypress women’s soccer team have have signed with four-year colleges.
Sophomore midfielder Heather Mears is going to Long Beach State and sophomore defender Alisha Van Tassal is headed to UC Irvine. Trisha Forni, the Chargers’ freshman goalie, will play at San Jose State.
The Chargers also announced that Ian Woodhead, who was the girls’ soccer coach at Lakewood Mayfair High, will become an assistant to the women’s soccer team.
The Fullerton men’s basketball team lost a couple players and gained a couple coaches.
Freshman Lawrence Felder, a 6-foot-10 center, signed with San Jose State and will have three seasons of eligibility. Tom Gorrell, the former boys’ basketball coach at Cypress High, and Craig Snider, the former boys’ basketball coach at La Quinta High, have joined the Hornet staff.
Gorrell was at La Costa Canyon High last season.