COLLEGE WORLD SERIES NOTES / LON EUBANKS : Titans, Garrido Face Another Must-Win Game Today Against Seminoles

Augie Garrido is relishing this College World Series now. The Cal State Fullerton coach is back on a high after Sunday night’s 20-6 Titan victory over Louisiana State.

The next stop comes at 12:36 p.m. (PDT) today, when the Titans take on Florida State in another game that could mean the end of the line.

But nothing was at stake in a light workout Monday, and Garrido was enjoying the banter with his players around the batting cage. He was kidding and joking, keeping things light.

“I’ve got enough kid in me that I really still enjoy doing this,” said Garrido, 55, whose coaching career began in 1966 at Sierra High School in Tollhouse, Calif.

“I could do some other things, but I have commitments to kids here now that I wouldn’t step away from, and I feel as though I still relate well with college players.”

Garrido, of course, would like to win this national championship for reasons of his own. He has won two national titles and six NCAA regional titles. Only four coaches have won three or more national championships.

But more important to him, he says, are his players.

“I think I get more caught up in where they are, in their ups and downs emotionally, than some coaches maybe do,” Garrido said. “But that’s the kind of coach I am. That’s what I like about it.”

Garrido believes he has retained a teacher’s mind-set.

“I want to see the best of what’s inside all these players come out,” Garrido said. “I want them to capture for themselves everything that can come from this experience. When they get this far, they have to put more into this than anything else they’ve ever done in their lives. They’ll come out of this with a whole different level of self-esteem.”

*

Garrido is at his best in this kind of situation, going against big-name schools loaded with All-Americans and first-round draft choices.

He can counter with coaching strategy and devil-may-care baseball. A bunt here, a hit-and-run there, and suddenly the Titans have picked your pocket.

It was interesting how important all these elements were in producing Sunday night’s 11-run first inning. Well-placed bunts, not wall-rattling hits, got the Titans in high gear.

“We ask that of all our players, to be able to bunt when we need that,” Garrido said. “They all understand it. They know that if we ask Dante Powell to bunt the ball, then they know we expect them to be able to do the same thing.”

*

Soon it will be crunch time again. Garrido and associate head coach George Horton will weigh carefully their moves. Who to pitch? Has Powell bounced back enough from his hamstring injury last week to be at something approaching full strength?

Horton is leaning toward left-hander Chad Rolish (7-4) to start today because Florida State has solid left-handed hitting. Right-hander Dan Ricabal (11-1) will come in if Rolish falters. Florida State is expected to counter with left-hander Charlie Cruz, 3-3 with a 1.98 earned-run average.

That would leave Mike Parisi (11-4) fresh for a Thursday game against Georgia Tech, unbeaten in the Series, if the Titans get past the Seminoles. Parisi has pitched well twice against Tech. He gave up four hits in the regular-season game, winning, 2-0. He allowed five hits in 7 1/3 innings in the series opener Friday against Tech, but lost, 2-0.

Continued improvement by Powell also was a boost to the Titans Monday.

“Dante looks better today than he did yesterday, so we’re encouraged by that,” Garrido said.

World Series Notes

The Fullerton-Florida State game is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN. . . . Titan relief pitcher Ted Silva suffered a slight cut on the first finger of his pitching hand when his hand hit Dan Ricabal’s cleat while the two were warming-up side by side Friday. Silva says he’s fine now.