Pirates

MEN'S GOLF Orange Empire Conference meet CYPRESS - Orange Coast College won the conference-opening event Wednesday at Navy Golf Course. Tie at 71 Kyle Melchiorre and Michael Chen both shot one-under-par 71 to help the Pirates improve to 7-0 in conference. Marcus Mercado-Kiel (73), David Pelekoudas (74) and Kyle Pollema (75) also scored to help OCC finish four-over 364 as a team. Palomar finished second at 373. Santiago Canyon's Nico Mendoza shot 69 to earn medalist honors.

COSTA MESA - Just six games into the 2013 season, one performance or one game can still greatly alter the statistics of an entire roster. But the Orange Coast College baseball team will hope that an atypical outing in Saturday's 12-8 nonconference loss to Long Beach City College in the Pirates' home opener, won't carve into the collective psyche of a squad ranked No. 3 in the Southern California preseason poll. OCC (4-2) had fashioned a 1.67 earned-run average and allowed eight runs total in its first five games.

COSTA MESA - The shorthanded Orange Coast College men's volleyball team pushed defending state champion Long Beach City College to the limit on Friday night before the Vikings found the upper hand down the stretch for a five-set win inside OCC's Peterson Gym. Greg Utupo had 19 kills and Austin Arcala added 10 kills to lead the undefeated Vikings past the Pirates, 25-16, 28-30, 21-25, 25-21, 15-10 in a nonconference matchup. The Pirates (2-2), playing without the services of two starters - Austin Bagby and Cody Martin - overcame a sluggish start and gave the Vikings (4-0)

MEN'S GOLF Tee Off Classic CHINO HILLS — Sophomore Kyle Melchiorre shot three-under-par 143 to earn medalist honors and lead Orange Coast College to the team title in the two-day event completed Wednesday at Los Serrano Golf Course. Melchiorre shot 71 and 72 on the north course (par 72) and the south course (par 74), respectively, to help the Pirates top the 16-team field with a score of 741. Marcus Mercado-Kiel (149), Kyle Pollema (150), Riley Muphy (150) and Jem Young (156)

Budget cuts have pared Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli's staff to the point that he is sometimes the only non-player in uniform at a Pirates' practice. But if he is looking for familiar companionship in his 21st season at the OCC helm, the 2012 Orange Empire Conference Coach of the Year may have only his four remaining veteran assistant coaches with whom to turn. That is because the wave of success that included the Pirates' first outright OEC title since 1987, a 37-7-1 record that forged the program's best winning percentage since 1957, and a trip to the four-team state championship tournament in 2012, also washed away all but four roster holdovers.

Orange Coast College sophomore defensive end Vince Coleman has signed a national letter of intent to continue his football career with Youngstown State, OCC Coach Mike Taylor announced Wednesday. Offensive lineman Kyle Finney and tight end Nolan Heyer are additional OCC sophomores headed for four-year programs, as is offensive tackle Andrew Albers, who previously had committed to Utah. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Coleman led the Pirates with 8.5 sacks and 15.5 of his 61 tackles were for losses in 2012.

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College women's basketball team couldn't overcome a poor shooting performance as the Pirates lost to College of the Canyons, 57-53, in the championship game of the 2012 Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic on Sunday. The Pirates (5-5) attempted 71 shots in the game, converting just 17. OCC also struggled from behind the line, making just two three-pointers on 18 attempts. The only place the Pirates did shoot well was the free-throw line where they hit 17 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe.

COSTA MESA - Caitlin Bunting played four somewhat unsung seasons on the Villa Park High varsity girls' basketball team and was recruited by a handful of community college coaches before electing to join Coach Mike Thornton this season at Orange Coast College. Just nine games into a season that was just beginning to show some promise, it appears Bunting will now watch from the sideline after a falling hard to the floor in the backcourt with 1:37 left in the Pirates' 51-42 victory over Saddleback on Saturday at OCC. Bunting's injury, which Thornton later said the training staff was almost sure was a fractured right ankle, put a damper on the hard-fought triumph in the semifinals of the Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic.

COSTA MESA - When the Orange Coast College women's basketball team began the season with three straight losses, Coach Mike Thornton and his players were forced to reevaluate their goals. "We decided at that point, we were going to be the most improved team in the state," Thornton said. The Pirates continued on that mission Friday, outlasting Cuesta, 75-69, in the first round of the eight-team Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic at OCC. It was the first home game of the season for OCC (4-4)