Altobelli adds to OCC legacy
Tom Brady was still in junior high school when John Altobelli won his first game as the Orange Coast College baseball coach.
Both have done a lot of winning since.
Altobelli, who guided the Pirates to state titles in 2009, 2014 and 2015, pocketed career victory No. 600 on Friday. In his 25th year, Altobelli has another team capable of challenging for a state crown, one season after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
One of 20 California community college coaches to reach the 600-win milestone, Altobelli’s success is indeed quantifiable. Less easy to measure are the attributes that make all that winning possible.
First, there is his boyish charm, the gleam behind a smile that is as constant as his drive. “Alto” possesses the rare ability to subjugate his own ego to promote those of his players and assistant coaches. And laughter is as fundamental to his daily approach as, well, his insistence on fundamentals.
“I get the credit for a lot of things, but it’s a team effort and we all pull the rope in the same direction,” Altobelli said after victory No. 601 on Saturday. “And that’s what this program is all about.”
His likability is one reason more than a generation of players continue to “buy in” to his philosophy and the principles upon which he runs his program.
There is, of course, his treasure trove of baseball knowledge, and a passion for the game that dates back to a childhood admiration for Pete Rose. This passion has taken him around the country, and last summer the globe as an assistant with USA Baseball’s national collegiate team. Along the way, he has cultivated knowledge, contacts and relationships.
The fruit of his diamond friendships, and the respect he shares with professional colleagues, has helped OCC attract dozens of Division I bounce-backs, many of whom have played leading roles on recent state championship teams.
The love Altobelli engenders from his players carries on after they move on to bigger pastures. There were several former players, some of whom will leave for major league spring training soon, in attendance on Saturday, when OCC closed out a three-game nonconference series sweep of Cuesta at Wendell Pickens Field.
Sophomore shortstop Travis Moniot was quick to initiate the creation of a signed baseball to commemorate Win No. 600 that the team presented to Altobelli after Friday’s triumph.
Altobelli, who has been hampered by surgically repaired knees, skin cancer and even open-heart surgery, has said he is approaching the final innings of his coaching career at OCC.
Let’s all enjoy him while we can.
Lions’ den well-stocked
Another coach on his way to 600 career victories is Vanguard University women’s basketball head man Russ Davis. Davis, in his 21st season at the helm, claimed win No. 548 on Tuesday in Santa Barbara, when the No. 5-ranked Lions rallied to top No. 3-ranked Westmont, 64-57, in overtime.
That was the 17th in a row for Vanguard (23-1, 11-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference), and the manner in which the victory was achieved further justified Davis’ postgame assertion that the Lions will contend for the program’s second national championship this season.
Few Davis teams have had as much quality depth as this year’s unit, which entered Tuesday’s game ranked No. 1 in the NAIA in scoring margin (plus 28.3 points per game), rebounding (49.4 per contest) and three-point-shooting defense (.241).
Westmont (19-3, 9-2) rattled the Lions with its relentless defense early and led the first 37-plus minutes of the contest.
But Vanguard, led by senior star Claire Lamunu (25 points on 10-for-15 field-goal shooting, and 11 rebounds), prevailed.
The Lions were three for 17 from three-point range in regulation, only to drill all three of their three-point tries in the extra session.
Junior Kandyce Smith came off the bench to stabilize the Lions’ offense at point guard. The UNLV transfer, who battled injuries during her first season at Vanguard in 2015-16, had 13 points and a team-best four assists. But her ability to protect the ball, diffuse perimeter defensive pressure, and use her strength to drive to the rim, allowed the Lions to overcome their early struggles.
And while senior starters Jamie Goff and Hanna Tabron, who have been key contributors all year, struggled (both went scoreless), Vanguard received key contributions from other reserves.
Alyssa Durr (two three-pointers in overtime), Tania Uluheua (two big third-quarter buckets on post moves) and Christiana Gerostergiou (the three-pointer that gave Vanguard its first lead with 2:47 left in regulation, as well as a deft assist on a Lamunu layup that put the Lions up, 59-54, with 91 seconds left) showed why this is the deepest Vanguard team in recent memory.
Vanguard had one turnover after halftime and was five for six from the field in overtime.
It was the 20th double-double of the season for Lamunu, who had nine rebounds in three of the four games in which she has not produced double-digit points and rebounds.
Vanguard visits No. 19-ranked Biola on Tuesday and will play host to Westmont on Feb. 21.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
