CAL STATE FULLERTON BASEBALL PREVIEW : Titans Won’t Dazzle, but They’ll Be Competitive

For those equating Augie Garrido’s return to Cal State Fullerton with annual Titan treks to the College World Series, Garrido has one request: Be patient.

In time, Garrido’s first team in his second stint as Fullerton’s baseball coach could develop into a national championship contender.

Who knows? The Titans, unranked in preseason polls, could get hot at the right time, win the Big West Conference championship and surprise everyone by winning an NCAA regional and advancing to the College World Series, just as they did last season.

But Garrido wouldn’t recommend investing in that Omaha timeshare for early June. Not yet, anyway.

“I feel the entire team has to move forward to an entirely different level for us to start thinking championship,” said Garrido, who was talking about a conference title, not a national one. “We don’t handle the fundamentals with precision yet. We’re going to have to get a lot better.”

Much like last season’s team, these Titans won’t dazzle opponents with speed or intimidate them with might. Pitchers won’t overpower many hitters.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t be competitive. The Titans have some proven, veteran players and some talented newcomers, and if everyone plays to his potential, they should be successful.

Still, there are some obvious deficiencies: Fullerton has little left-handed hitting, which could hurt it at home in Amerige Park, with its short right-center field fence. The team’s only left-handed pitcher is a freshman, and the Titans have average speed.

The heart of the 1990 team’s defense, shortstop Kevin Farlow, second baseman Mate Borgogno and center fielder Domingo Mota, passed up their senior seasons to sign professional contracts, leaving gaping holes up the middle.

Garrido will fill them by moving the corners of the Titan infield--third baseman Phil Nevin and first baseman Steve Sisco--in a position, and starting a newcomer, community college transfer Frank Herman, in center field.

Nevin, a second-team preseason All-American selection by Baseball America, will move to shortstop, the position he played at El Dorado High, and Sisco will move to second, the position he played all summer in the Alaskan League.

“We tried to put the most experienced players in the middle, because that’s the most important part of the defense,” Garrido said. ‘But Nevin and Sisco haven’t played together a lot, so we’ll see how they grow into the positions.”

Herman, who played at Golden West College, doesn’t have great speed, but Garrido says he has good instincts and an accurate arm. Solidifying the middle will be catcher Matt Hattabaugh, a returning starter who throws well and handles pitchers well.

Frank Charles, the designated hitter last season, will move to first base, and sophomore Trevor Rush will start at third but should be challenged for playing time by L.A. Harbor transfer Mike Berry.

Dave Ayala, a part-time starter last season, will play right field, Cerritos College transfer Chris Powell will play left and reserve outfielder Craig Fairbrother, another Cerritos transfer, will be the designated hitter.

Returning ace James Popoff, a junior who went 12-5 with a 3.98 ERA and won two NCAA Central Regional games in 1990, heads a pitching staff composed of four right-handed starters.

Popoff, who has good control of his curve and knuckleball, sat out much of the summer because of a muscle strain in his shoulder but has returned at full strength.

Rounding out the staff are 6-foot-4 sophomore Bill Fitzgerald, who pitched mostly in relief last season and had a 3.00 ERA; 6-6 junior Dan Naulty, a former standout at Ocean View High School and Cerritos College who has a sidearm delivery, and junior Jack Bailey, the former standout at Mission Viejo High School and Rancho Santiago College who has a good slider but was academically ineligible last season.

Chris Robinson, a senior right-hander who had five saves and a 3.88 ERA last season, will again head the bullpen, and sophomore righty Tony Fetchel, who appeared in only four games last year, will pitch in relief.

Offensively, Herman, who batted .375 at Golden West last season, will be the leadoff hitter, and Ayala, a .300 hitter in 1990, or Powell, who batted .300 with 29 stolen bases at Cerritos last season, will bat second.

Nevin (.358, 14 home runs, 52 RBIs), Hattabaugh (.316, five homers, 54 RBIs), Charles (.327, six homers, 44 RBIs) and Sisco (.294, four homers, 32 RBIs) will bat third, fourth, fifth and sixth and will be expected to provide much of the offensive punch.

“This is not a team made up of awesome athletes, but very few college teams are,” Garrido said. “Issues are settled on the field during games, and the key is to handle the responsibilities of the game itself and not play the opponent.”