Orange County Proves It’s a Baseball Hotbed : Amateur: The Titans, Rancho Santiago and four high schools won championship trophies.

It’s the players, for sure. The coaches also have a major role. The opportunity to compete year-round helps. Even the fields play some part.

Whatever the specifics, the spring of 1995 will be long remembered as the high mark for Orange County’s high school and college baseball teams. County teams won the College World Series, the State community college title and four of the six Southern Section high school titles contested.

Cal State Fullerton won its third national championship by beating USC, 11-5, Saturday in Omaha. Rancho Santiago won Orange County’s first baseball title of the spring when the Dons beat Cerritos, 12-2.

On the high school level, Fountain Valley, Sonora, La Quinta and Calvary Chapel won championships.

“They did it with pitching and we did it with pitching,” said Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon of the Titans. He played for and was an assistant to Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido.

“They had their good hitter [Mark Kotsay] and we had our good hitter [Kyle Evans]. They didn’t make the mental mistakes and played with a great deal of confidence. That’s exactly what happened here.

“I can’t pinpoint the exact reason but to me the teams are just about all the same,” said Sneddon, who won his second State title in three seasons. “When I see La Quinta, Fountain Valley, Sonora and Cal State Fullerton, we all played at a high level with a lot of intensity and didn’t make a lot of mistakes, mentally or physically.”

Not that winning baseball titles is a new experience. Rancho Santiago’s title was the fourth State community college title in five seasons for Orange County teams.

Cypress broke an 11-year drought in 1991 and won the State championship again in 1994.

“This is just a hotbed,” Cypress Coach Scott Pickler said. “Coaches all over the United States want players from Southern California. They talk about the good work ethic here and how kids compete so hard.

“You go and look at the [high school and college] fields in Orange County. They are beautiful and kids want to play on them. The coaches take a lot of pride in their programs and it’s very competitive.”

Fountain Valley and La Quinta became the first Orange County high school teams to win back-to-back section baseball titles. Fountain Valley in Division I and La Quinta in Division III. Sonora won Division II and Calvary Chapel Division V.

“I think it must have been fate or something,” La Quinta Coach Dave Demarest said. “I don’t really have an answer. Cal State Fullerton and Rancho Santiago just dominated. I’m just surprised that [winning back-to-back titles] hasn’t happened before.”