Pirates Trio Lead All-Orange Empire Conference Baseball Team

Orange Coast College and Santa Ana College highlighted a star-studded group as the 2014 All-Orange Empire Conference Team was announced, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.

The Pirates and Dons – co-champions of the OEC, had 11 players earn first-team honors.

OCC sophomores and twin brothers David Hill and Jacob Hill were named OEC Co-Pitchers of the Year, Pirate teammate Cody Nulph was named the OEC Player of the Year and coaches John Altobelli (Orange Coast), Bryan Harris (Santa Ana) and John Bryant (Santa Ana) were named OEC Coaches of the Year.

David and Jacob Hill matched each other strike-for-strike and anchored a Pirate pitching staff that led the OEC with a 2.01 conference ERA. David went 5-1 with three complete games and conference-best 1.11 ERA. He allowed eight earned runs in 64 2/3 innings with 12 walks and 55 strikeouts. Jacob went 7-0 for the Pirates with a 1.37 ERA, holding the opposition to just seven earned runs, 11 walks and 36 strikeouts over 46 innings. Both pitchers are slated to throw for the University of San Diego in the Fall.

Nulph, who will be attending Auburn University in the Fall, led the OEC with a .393 batting average and racked up 35 hits, seven doubles, 19 runs scored and 13 RBI in conference play. The standout shortstop also was a leader on defense, committing just four errors to go along with 69 assists and 28 putouts.

Harris and Bryant, co-coaches for the Dons following the departure of longtime skipper Don Sneddon, kept the SAC baseball train rolling in the right direction with its 22^nd conference championship and a No. 3 seed in the Southern California Regional playoffs. SAC will host Long Beach City College on Friday in a best-of-three, opening-round playoff matchup.

For Altobelli (539-406-3, .571), this is his fifth OEC Coach of the Year honor and this year's co-title is the Pirates' 18^th conference title in school history.  Coast enters the Regional playoffs as the No. 1-seed  and will play either Mt. San Antonio, El Camino or College of the Canyons on Friday in its best-of-three matchup.

Complete 2014 stats for all of Orange Empire Conference baseball can be found at http://www.oecsports.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/leaders

2014 ALL-ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE TEAM

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cody Nulph, Orange Coast (6-0, 180, So)

PITCHERS OF THE YEAR: David Hill, Orange Coast (6-2, 195, So); Jacob Hill, Orange Coast (6-2, 210, So)

COACHES OF THE YEAR: John Altobelli, Orange Coast; Bryan Harris, Santa Ana; John Bryant, Santa Ana