Orange Coast Defeats Golden West in Baseball

Orange Coast, shutout in its last game, rallied Saturday to beat Golden West, 11-8, in the Orange Empire Conference baseball opener for both teams.

Host Orange Coast had lost, 10-0, to Palomar Wednesday and fell behind to Golden West, 5-2, going into the bottom of the fifth inning.

But Jason Reuss hit a three-run homer in the fifth for OCC. Nick Orlandos had a two-run single in the sixth with two outs to give the Pirates a 9-6 lead.

Jamie Brown pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to earn his third save for OCC (9-6, 1-0).

Reuben Gulledge of Golden West (10-5, 0-1) hit his sixth home run of the season. It was the fourth consecutive game in which he has hit a home run.

In other Orange Empire Conference games:

Saddleback 13, Fullerton 8--Visiting Saddleback broke open a 1-1 tie with a seven-run sixth inning.

Saddleback (14-2, 1-0) sent 11 men to the plate in the sixth. Greg Pines started the barrage with a leadoff double. Pines had four hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs.

Michael Clifton doubled in two runs in the sixth and singled in two more runs in seventh for Saddleback.

Rich Pohle, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games, hit a two-out three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh for Fullerton (11-6, 0-1).

Santa Ana 13, Riverside 3--Richard Lane was three for four with five RBIs, and Christian Popoff was three for four with two RBIs and three runs scored for host Santa Ana. Albert Rodgers hit a three-run homer in third inning for the Dons (11-5, 1-0).

In the Merced softball tournament:

Cypress 12, Modesto 0--Koral King’s triple drove in three of Cypress’ nine runs in the third inning. Cypress’ Melissa Beck went four for four with three RBIs and two runs scored. Cypress beat Ventura, 6-1, in pool play.