Pirates add seven new members to Athletics Hall of Fame
COSTA MESA -- Orange Coast College Athletics held their 2024 OCC Athletics Hall of Fame dinner and banquet on Saturday night, honoring six individuals and one team for their remarkable Pirate careers, both on and off of the athletic fields.
The newest members of OCC's proud collection of greats include Barbara Bond, Scott Beerer, Cari Garfield, Janice Maran, Lance Ortiz and Leon Skeie, as well as the 1956 OCC Baseball Team.
Here is a recap on each of our newest members of the OCC Athletics Hall of Fame, Class of 2024 ...
BARBARA BOND
OCC Women's Field Hockey, Soccer, Badminton, Softball Coach, Athletic Director and Dean of Kinesiology & Athletics, 1975-2010
A fixture to the Orange Coast College Athletics family for over three decades, Barbara Bond began her journey at OCC back in 1975 when, at the age of 25, she coached field hockey and women's basketball for the first three years of her tenure. But, with field hockey waning in popularity and women's basketball moving to a winter sport, Bond convinced the college to bring in women's soccer, just as the roots of Title IX began to grab hold of the sports community at the California community college level. For the spring, Bond then began her tenure as the softball coach. In 22 seasons with the women's soccer program, Bond guided the Pirates to six conference championships and two state championships (1989, 1991). She was named the Orange Empire Conference Coach of the Year five different times, the OEC All-Sport Coach of the Year once and in 2002, she was the National Soccer Coaches Association West Region's Coach of the Year. From 1979-1989, Bond was the head coach of the OCC softball program, and much like the soccer team, she helped establish the foundation for the program which enabled it to grow and flourish for decades to come. Also, during her coaching tenure, Bond was the head coach of the OCC badminton team and helped the Pirates earn steady success in that sport as well. In 2004, Bond was named the school's Athletic Director and thanks to her hard work and dedication, she helped OCC's athletic facilities grow and improve across the board. As Dean and Athletic Director, among the projects that Bond helped create included improvements to the soccer, baseball and football facilities, as well as the creation of the OCC Fitness Complex and OCC's new softball complex. Bond helped OCC to continue to be an example of athletic excellence with state-of-the-art facilities and that excellence has carried forward years after her retirement in 2010. In 2022, the 3C2A honored Bond for furthering the impact on Title IX to celebrate its 50th anniversary. As an athlete, Bond helped lead Long Beach State to the Collegiate National Volleyball Championship. Bond, one of the first-ever inductees of the California Community College Women's Soccer Hall of Fame, has also competed on four USVBA National Championship teams as well as six Senior Softball World Series championship teams.
SCOTT BEERER
OCC Baseball Athlete, 2000-2002
After a standout prep baseball career at Newport Harbor High School, Scott Beerer began the next phase of his academic and athletic careers at Orange Coast College. In 2001, Beerer – a gifted athlete who could not only hit and play outfield but could also pitch – went 5-2 with a 2.73 ERA as a freshman, with 52 strikeouts and 14 walks in 69 1/3 innings with two complete games. As an outfielder, he batted .370 with 60 hits and 24 RBI. His sophomore year, he helped guide the Pirates to a 28-12 record and a trip to the Super Regionals, where he batted .320 with 41 hits, 4 HR and 25 RBI and went 5-3 with a complete game over 49 1/3 innings as a pitcher. Following his Coast career, Beerer attended Texas A&M University, where he was played as an outfielder and pitched for the Aggies. He was named First-Team, NCAA Division I All-American Utility player, Big 12 Conference All-Star and Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year. After that season, Beerer was a second-round draft pick (47th overall) for the Colorado Rockies, where he kicked off his pitching career. After just four seasons in the minors, Beerer injured his arm did not return to baseball for three seasons. With a goal to attempt a comeback as an outfielder, Beerer returned home and worked tirelessly at OCC to get to where he needed to get to. In 2009, he returned to professional baseball as an outfielder and defied the odds. Over four seasons, he quickly moved up the ranks, earning spots at the AAA level (one level short of the big leagues), where he finished his playing career hitting .304 with 355 hits, 55 doubles, 28 home runs and 171 RBI from 2009-12. After spending a few more years as an assistant coach at the minor league level, Beerer returned to the State of Texas, where he works for Precision Roofing Group.
CARI GARFIELD
OCC Women's Tennis Athlete, 1979-81
After a successful youth career in softball, it was the movie "Little Mo" (biographical film on the life story of tennis great Maureen Connelly) that first turned Cari Garfield's attention to the sport of tennis at the age of 15. After quickly earning the No. 1 spot in singles at Fountain Valley High School, Garfield came to Orange Coast and joined one of the most successful sport programs in school history. Coached by fellow HOF inductee, Janice Maran, Garfield helped create a winning tradition with the OCC tennis team, a program that has 10 state championships during its existence. As a sophomore, Garfield won the 1981 Ojai Tournament doubles title with teammate Lori Schoettler. Her strong play helped the Pirates to first place in the Southern California Championships and first place in the State Dual Team Championships. After her stellar career at OCC, Garfield attended Cal State Bakersfield, where she was a two-time NCAA Doubles All-American. Following her playing career, Garfield took to coaching, something she began doing even as a teenage player. With over 40 years of coaching experience, Garfield has been a teaching pro at Palisades Tennis Club, the Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club and most recently, the Newport Beach Tennis Club. When she's not playing tennis, Garfield is also an author of two children's books, "Cari's Characters" and "After All I'm Just a Ball".
JANICE MARAN
OCC Women's Tennis Coach, 1978-2013
With a career that spanned 35 years at Orange Coast College, Janice Maran built a powerhouse program from the ground up and because of her groundbreaking dedication and commitment to her team and the college, it's a program that has not slowed down even after her retirement in 2013. Over her OCC coaching career, Maran's Pirates won 477 matches with just 96 loss and two ties (an astounding .831 winning percentage). During her tenure, the Pirates won eight state championships, 23 conference titles, 31 top-two finishes in conference, 16 undefeated conference seasons and eight Ojai Invitational championships. Among Maran's team successes, five singles players and eight doubles teams won state championships. Eight of Maran's standout athletes were named OCC Female Athletes of the Year. Of her 35 seasons as coach of the Pirates, OCC lost three or fewer times THIRTY of those seasons. Maran was named the National Coach of the Year (1999), the California Coach of the Year (1987, 1989) and was the Orange Empire Conference Coach of the Year numerous times. In 2009, the California Community College Coaches Association honored Maran by selecting her for the 4CA Coaching Achievement Award, which honors members of the California Community College Coaching profession who show exemplary participation, dedication and contributions to sport. The recipient coach exhibits leadership and high ethical values in addition to providing an outstanding role model for student-athletes and future professionals.
LANCE ORTIZ
OCC Men's Basketball Athlete, 2004-06
Don't let the 6'0, 180-pound frame fool you … Lance Ortiz had the heart of a 7-footer as a two-year standout for the OCC Pirate men's basketball team. As a freshman, Ortiz earned first-team, All-Orange Empire Conference honors after leading the Pirates in scoring (14.5 points per game) and also dished out 95 assists while shooting .464 from the field and 74% from the free-throw line. He led the team in scoring 14 times his freshman season, including a 31-point performance against OEC rival, Fullerton College. It was another steady performance for Ortiz as a sophomore, leading the Pirates to the playoffs with a 22-11 overall record and a 9-3 mark in the OEC. Ortiz again led the way in scoring at 13.2 points per game and 171 assists, while hitting a remarkable 141-178 (.792) from the free-throw line. He notched a career-high 39 points against Imperial Valley, the eighth-most for a Pirate in one game. After Coast, Ortiz earned a spot on the Cal State San Bernardino basketball roster and as a senior, he was an integral part of the Coyotes' "monster" defense and aggressive offensive play that enabled the team to post a 26-6 record and win a regional title and advance to the Final Four. He was second in assists (83) and second in steals with 53 on a team that was the nation's best at pilfering the ball. After that, Ortiz played professional basketball in Mexico in the LNBP (Liga Nacional Baloncesto Profesional) from 2008-13, where he averaged 7.6 points and 6.2 assists per game for 3 ½ seasons with the Leon Lechugueros.
LEON SKEIE
OCC Athletic Trainer, Physical Education Instructor, 1973-2015
One of the longest-tenured members of the OCC athletics family in school history, Leon Skeie created the standard of athletic training and physical education and sports medicine at this school that spanned over five decades. Joining the Pirate staff in 1972, Skeie served as the college's athletic trainer and strength instructor for 12 years and immediately began changing that facet of athletics at Orange Coast College. He helped launch several centers, services and programs, including the OCC Sports Medicine Center and assisted in creating an exercise science lab, a strength lab and the school's Adapted Physical Education Program. In addition, Skeie created numerous OCC professional physical education courses which helped put Pirate athletics ahead of the rest of the state with that side of the athletics success formula. He was named the National First-Year Community College Teacher of the Year in 1973 and twice named the National Community College Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1980 and 1984. In 1982, Skeie was presented with the OCC Student Services Award and in 1986, he received the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame as an outstanding contributor to athletics. An author to several books and articles on physical fitness, Skeie created the Leon Skeie Training Award, given to a student in sports medicine in memory of his granddaughter, Jessica Joy Rees, who passed away in 2011 of a malignant brain tumor.
THE 1956 OCC BASEBALL TEAM
With the celebration of the 100th state championship in the Spring of 2024, the Pirates now celebrate the team that started the celebrations … the 1956 state-champion OCC baseball team. With the school just eight years old, head coach Wendell Pickens began a successful program right from the opening season of 1948, including a 1955 team that advanced to the state finals. In 1956, "Pick" had the right blend of talent to take the team all the way to the top of the championship mountain. Things didn't start too well for the Pirates as they fell to Long Beach City College (10-5) and Compton (8-4), but after that came a year that never drifted off course. Coast proceeded to win 25 of their final 28 games, including a first-ever perfect 12-0 in the Eastern Conference (OCC's fourth conference title in a row) and a return trip to the postseason. In the opening round, the Pirates topped Compton, 8-5 to earn a showdown with powerhouse Long Beach City College. Against the Vikings, Coast won two straight (9-8 and 11-0) to take the Southern California championship for the second year in a row. From there, Coast hosted one of the top community college teams in the nation, Coalinga College. Winners of 33 in a row and champions of Northern California, Coalinga head coach said before the series that there wasn't a ball club in the United States that could defeat his boys. Pickens and the Pirates proved them wrong, topping the Falcons 5-4 in the first game after trailing 4-0 with two outs in the ninth inning. Coast tied the score in the ninth and won the game in the 10th. In the final game, Coast and Coalinga needed 15 innings before Butch Coopman drove home Rowland Hill with the winning run to give the Pirates a 3-2 win and the school's first-ever championship. Pitchers Wayne Coughtry (13-2, 1.33 ERA), Jim Newkirk (5-1, 2.17 ERA) and Don Leigh (6-0, 1.20 ERA) highlighted the stats for OCC in 1956, while the bats were led by Butch Coopman (.330, 35 hits, 31 runs, 12 RBI), Jerry Wayt (.337, 33 hits, 24 runs, 26 RBI) and Gene Raine (.305, 33 hits, 29 runs, 24 RBI).
