IRVIN, DELORFICE TOP PLAYERS FOR OEC BASEBALL

IRVINE, CA - Orange Coast College outfielder Davis Delorefice was named the Orange Empire Conference Player of the Year, while Riverside pitcher Garrett Irvin was named the Pitcher of the Year for the 2019 season at Monday night's postseason meeting, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.

 

Against a strong contingent of quality arms, Irvin topped them all as the RCC sophomore went 5-1 in seven conference starts, allowing 15 earned runs with just eight walks and 53 strikeouts over 48 innings of work. He led the OEC in innings pitched and strikeouts and his 2.81 ERA was second-best among OEC starters.

 

Delorefice was a standout leader for the Pirates, batting .407, second-best in the OEC. He tied for the conference lead in hits with 35 and was ranked in the top-5 in runs (24) and stolen bases (6). He also was OCC's closer and went 1-1 with a save in six appearances.

 

For the third straight year, Orange Coast College head coach John Altobelli was named the conference's Coach of the Year, guiding the Pirates to back-to-back-to-back OEC titles. It had been nearly four decades since the Pirates accomplished that feat, with Mike Mayne leading Coast to three straight conference titles in 1980-82. This year's Pirates finished the regular season 29-8-1 overall, 16-5 in conference, one games ahead of Riverside (30-10, 16-5) and four games up on Santa Ana (24-15, 12-9).