Orange Coast College Baseball Named National Champions

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team has been recognized as the No. 1 team in the country, according to the rankings specialists at www.perfectgame.org.

"It's official -- Orange Coast is No. 1 -- congratulations to all," Vice President/National Coordinator of Perfect Game, Allan Simpson, said in an email.

The official press release from Perfect Game will be put online on Tuesday.

"It's the perfect icing on the cake," OCC head coach John Altobelli said. "We told the players that this might be a possibility and they were all totally excited. We will be sure to add this national title to our ever-expanding championship ring. I hope there's enough room for everything."

Heading into the final week of the rankings, the Pirates were ranked No. 2, behind Chattahoochie Valley College, but an early exit to the Alabama-based Pirates in the NJCAA World Series dropped them out of the top spot.

Orange Coast (36-9) went a perfect 9-0 in the postseason and ended 2014 with a 15-game win streak en route to the school's fifth state baseball championship (1956, 1960, 1980, 2009).

In all, seven teams from the National top-50 reside in California, including state runner-up San Joaquin Delta (No. 5), Oxnard (No. 9), Chabot (No. 16), College of the Sequoias (No. 24), Santa Rosa (No. 37), and Orange Empire Conference rival Santa Ana (No. 44). This year, the Pirates went 5-1 against nationally-ranked teams (2-0 vs. Delta; 1-0 vs. Sequoias; 2-1 vs. Santa Ana).