Pirates

COSTA MESA - It had been nearly two years since he'd won a game, and after redshirting at the University of Oregon last season, Friday marked the collegiate debut for Orange Coast College freshman pitcher Brandon Brennan. As if that weren't enough to accelerate his anxiety, there were about four-dozen professional scouts on hand to gauge his talent, his coach estimated. But if Brennan was at all knocked off his game in the Pirates' 6-3 nonconference home win over Cuesta, it certainly was difficult to tell.

Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli said a summer in the Cape Cod League as an assistant coach helped him broaden his connections with four-year college coaches. But with a collection of talent that is arguably unrivaled in his 20 seasons at the Pirates' helm, he had already become increasingly popular with Division I recruiters. No fewer than six members of this year's team have already committed to four-year programs, including two of his three newcomer bounce-backs from Division I schools.

COSTA MESA - Riverside City College women's basketball coach Alicia Berber has learned to fear the buzzer at Orange Coast. For the third time in their last three meetings in the Pirates' gym, the visiting Tigers saw OCC connect on a three-pointer late in regulation to force overtime and then prevail in the extra session. Friday, it was OCC sophomore Ashley Engeln who netted the game-tying three-pointer that just beat the buzzer to knot things in regulation, 59-59. OCC sophomore Jordyn Terukina sank a three-pointer to open overtime for OCC and the Pirates never trailed on their way to a 70-64 triumph.

Orange Coast College will change conference alignments in football for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, trading its current six-team alignment for a seven-team grouping that features teams that have traditionally had more success. The Pirates, who competed in the Central Division East Conference the last two seasons, will shift to the National Division Southern Conference. They will be joined by former East Conference members Golden West and Santa Ana, as well as Orange County rivals Saddleback and Fullerton, and San Diego County representatives Grossmont and Palomar.

COSTA MESA - Sometimes, Steve Spencer gets so caught up coaching his Orange Coast College men's basketball team, he forgets his own exceptions. So it was with 9:00 left in his team's 85-63 trouncing of Orange Empire Conference visitor Santa Ana on Wednesday that the 11th-year Pirates head man confounded his own logic. "Settle down! Settle down!" Spencer yelled from the bench as sophomore guard Will Ligon sped past in transition with the ball on his fingertips and a back-pedaling defender drifting into the lane.

Sure, it may seem like a time warp to see a couple of old wooden merchant and naval ships tied up in Newport Harbor this week, but wait until you're aboard. For the next week the public is invited to tour two late 18th-century vessels that will be docked at the Newport Sea Base, 1931 W. Coast Hwy. One, the Lady Washington, is better known as the HMS Interceptor from 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," the first in the Disney movie line. In the film, Capt.

Don Watson, a longtime swimming and water polo coach, who helped lead the Pirates to 19 state championships over his 30-year career at Orange Coast College, passed away Monday evening following a nine-year bout with stomach cancer. He was 59. Watson began his OCC coaching career in 1980 as a part-time instructor and eventually became a full-time coach for the Pirates in 1989. As head coach of the women's swim team, he helped guide the Pirates to 15 state championships since 1983.

COSTA MESA - Sometimes, the one thing you haven't tried, the one thing that is least likely to work, can be the magic bullet. The Orange Coast College women's basketball team came up one shot shy of completing a second-half comeback that was as unlikely as it was astounding Saturday night. But in the end, Coach Mike Thornton and his Pirates were left wondering if a 66-65 loss to College of the Canyons in the semifinals of the Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic at OCC may at least serve as a reset button on a mediocre season to this point.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Orange Coast 58, Southwestern 43 COSTA MESA - Ashley Engeln led the Pirates with 18 points and five assists to help OCC advance to Saturday's championship semifinals of the Erin Tomlinson Coast Christmas Classic Friday. Nisma Ali added nine points for OCC (6-6), which plays against Canyons at 7:30 p.m. Saddleback plays against Irvine Valley in the other semifinal at 5:30 p.m.

Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli was resting comfortably at Hoag Hospital Thursday night after undergoing open heart surgery earlier to repair a weakened valve, said his brother, Tony Altobelli. John Altobelli, 48, preparing for his 20th season at the helm after a program-record 453 victories and capturing the 2009 state championship, began experiencing shortness of breath last season. After many tests, the weak heart valve was determined to be the root of the problem.