Fullerton Rips Trojans In Title Game
College World Series
Coach Augie Garrido said Cal State Fullerton had no goals or expectations. Don’t tell that to Mark Kotsay and his teammates.
The “project” team, expecting a rebuilding year, put the finishing touch on the surprise for Garrido when Kotsay’s two home runs and five runs batted in led Fullerton to the College World Series championship Saturday with an 11-5 win over Southern Cal.
“The unexpected was the No. 1 seed winning the tournament, that’s unexpected,” Garrido said. “It’s awesome. We could have had this team paint by the numbers, but they painted like Picasso.”
Garrido gave credit to his team’s leader, sophomore Kotsay, the consensus All-American and co-player of the year as named by Collegiate Baseball: “The best players are the hardest workers. Kotsay has the work ethic. He’s also certainly got the talent.”
“Kotsay is the Messiah,” Southern Cal coach Mike Gillespie said. “He’s unbelievable. You don’t need to make a mistake to get him to hurt you. If the baseball draft was held today, he’d be the No. 1 pick.”
Fortunately for the Titans, the sophomore can’t be drafted by major league teams until next year. This year he was Mr. Everything, conational player of the year and CWS most valuable player.
The Titans (57-9) were the first top-seeded, No. 1-ranked team to win the national title since the NCAA began seeding teams in 1988. CSF also became the sixth team since the tournament moved to Omaha in 1950 to go through regionals and the CWS unbeaten. Fullerton was 4-0 in Omaha.
Sixth seed and second-ranked Southern Cal (49-21) lost for the second time in 13 championship games. The other loss for the 11-time champs was 2-1 to Minnesota in 10 innings in 1960.
Fullerton won two other championships, beating Arkansas in 1979 and Texas in 1984. The Titans lost the 1992 final to Pepperdine, the other time two California teams had met in the championship.
Garrido’s win also put him in elite company at the CWS. He is the fifth coach to win as many as three titles. USC’s Rod Dedeaux is the recordholder, with 10, followed by Garrido, Arizona’s Jerry Kindall, Minnesota’s Dick Siebert and Arizona State’s Bobby Winkles, with three each.
Fullerton pitcher Ted Silva (18-1) retired 12 consecutive Trojans at one point and carried a 7-5 lead to the eighth. Kotsay relieved for the final five outs.