Community College Baseball : OCC’s Errors Open the Door for Golden West

Golden West College rallied for two runs in the seventh inning with the help of three Orange Coast errors and went on to defeat the Pirates, 6-5, in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game Saturday at Golden West.

OCC had scored four runs in the the fifth and another in the sixth to lead, 5-4, when Golden West came to bat in the seventh.

Craig Paquette opened the inning with a ground ball that OCC third baseman Marty Cordova mishandled for an error. Shelby Hart then hit a possible double-play ball only to have shortstop Isidro Maldanado let it go off his glove for an error. The runners moved up on a wild pitch.

Golden West loaded the bases when Dan Villegas grounded to third and Cordova’s only play was to try to tag Paquette, who beat him back to the base.

Frank Herman then grounded to Cordova, whose throw to the plate hit Paquette in the shoulder and bounced far enough away for Paquette and Hart to score the tying and go-ahead runs.

James Marquez (1-0) gave up a hit and a run over the final four innings for the victory for Golden West (8-4 overall, 2-0 the conference). Joe Sewell (2-2) allowed six runs, four earned, over eight innings for the loss for OCC (10-4-1, 0-3).

Paquette had an RBI single in the third as Golden West took a 1-0 lead. The Rustlers got two more runs in the fourth, when Shelby Hart hit a solo home run, his second of the season, and Josh Bammer added a bloop RBI single.

OCC rallied with four runs in the fifth for a 4-3 lead. Scott Talanoa hit a lead-off home run, his fourth of the season, and Jason Young had a bases-loaded triple.

Darrel Conner had an RBI ground out in the sixth as OCC took a 5-3 lead. Golden West cut it to 5-4 when Dan Westman doubled, went to third on a fly out and scored on a single by Paul Weldon.

In other Orange Empire Conference games:

Cypress 4, Riverside 0--Dennis Burbank (6-1) threw a six-hitter for visiting Cypress (14-4, 3-0). Bobby Thome hit a three-run home run in the seventh for Cypress. Doug Yates, who had two hits, had an RBI ground out for Cypress in the first. Mike Garcia threw a four-hitter but lost for Riverside (2-9, 0-3).

Fullerton 6, Saddleback 4--Rob Bailey had a bases-loaded triple in the sixth to give Fullerton a 6-1 lead. Will Barber went the distance for the victory for Fullerton (7-7, 2-1). Tony Spaan, Brian Hoialmen and Justin Pyser hit home runs for Saddleback (7-3, 1-2).

In a nonconference game:

Rancho Santiago 4, San Diego City 1--Tim Reynolds and John McTaggart hit solo home runs for host Rancho Santiago (9-6). Willie Navarrette (3-2) pitched the first six innings for the victory.