Saarloos Digs the Pressure of Relief Work

Kirk Saarloos was 10 years old when he made his first visit to Rosenblatt Stadium.

“I had watched the College World Series on television, and I wanted to see it up close,” said Saarloos, the strong-armed closer for Cal State Fullerton.

Saarloos, who was in Omaha for a national 10-and-under youth tournament at another ballpark, talked his father, Larry, into letting him go down to the field.

“The one thing I really remember is that I took a bottle cap and I buried it about six inches down near the backstop,” Saarloos said. “I told my dad, ‘When I come back here to play in the World Series, I’ll see if it’s still here.’ You know, little kids all think they’re the greatest player on the planet at that age.”

Saarloos has made it back to Rosenblatt as a player, just as he said he would. And he will likely be a key figure for the Titans in the College World Series.

Fullerton (49-12) begins play at 5 p.m. (PDT) today against Stanford.

“I’ve always loved college sports, and getting this opportunity is just awesome for me,” Saarloos said.

Saarloos did a lot to create it. He has pitched in 36 of Fullerton’s 61 games, finishing 35. The only time he didn’t finish on the mound, he played the final two innings in right field. That way Coach George Horton could bring him back if needed.

Saarloos, who played for Valley Christian High in Cerritos, has a 7-3 record, with a 4.01 earned-run average and seven saves. He was 4-2 last year as a freshman, working primarily as a middle-inning reliever.

“I really like being a relief pitcher,” Saarloos said. “It’s hectic, but you get a lot more opportunity to pitch, and I love the workload. I can tell the coaching staff has a lot of confidence in me when we go into the late innings, and that makes me feel good.”

Saarloos says he likes not having to hold anything back. “I usually can’t try to save anything in the situations I’m in,” he said.

He has a remarkable record this season when he has come in after the start of an inning. Saarloos has retired the first batter he has faced 19 times in 23 of those appearances, striking out eight and getting five others to hit into double plays. He has walked three and hit a batter, but allowed only one hit.

“He’s really been instrumental in us getting where we are,” Titan pitching Coach Dave Serrano said. “The team has a lot of confidence in him when he comes into the game, and he feeds off that. He’s gotten a lot of big strikeouts in key situations for us.”

Serrano doesn’t consider Saarloos a strikeout pitcher, and neither does Saarloos. “I’d rather throw five pitches and get three ground balls, than throw 15 pitches and get three strikeouts,” Saarloos said. “But when I come in, I feel like I have to make every pitch the best I can.”

Saarloos said the key for him is feeling confident in difficult situations.

“I played quarterback in high school, and I love being the player under pressure,” Saarloos said. “It was that way in football, and it’s the same being a relief pitcher in the late innings.”

Saarloos’ father pitched in 1971 and ’72 for Cerritos College, where he was a teammate of Horton’s. He then transferred to UCLA for his next two years. He says he’s enjoying his son’s opportunity to pitch in the College World Series that he didn’t have.

“We built a pitcher’s mound in the backyard, and I started working with him when he was about 9,” Larry Saarloos said. “I taught him the pitching philosophy we all learned from our Cerritos coach, Wally Kincaid: first-pitch strike, stay ahead of the count, and always throw to a good location.

“We tried to make sure we took care of his arm, and that has helped. He’s always had a resilient arm, and has never missed a start. And he’s far better than I ever was. His pitching personality is so much better than mine was. He gets so zoned, and has great concentration.”

Larry Saarloos says there wasn’t much doubt where his son would pitch in college. “He visited Fullerton, and canceled a trip he had scheduled to Miami the next day,” he said. “I remember him saying that he thought Fullerton offered him the best chance to get to the World Series.”

This is a big weekend for the Saarloos family.

“I’ll have about 12 family members and friends here,” Kirk Saarloos said. “They’ve all given me incredible support all the time.”

And sometime before today’s game, Saarloos said he might walk over near the backstop at Rosenblatt Stadium and stick his fingers in the ground, just to see if an old bottle cap is still buried there.

“I’m sure it’s not there now,” he said, smiling. “It’s been so long.”

Jesse Cuevas, the stadium superintendent, says Saarloos is probably right, because the field was redone eight years ago. “It’s probably in some landfill now,” Cuevas said.

But the dream of a 10-year-old is still alive.