Bacani Sets Tone for Titan Baseball Team

UC Santa Barbara Coach Bob Brontsema sees Cal State Fullerton second baseman David Bacani as a symbol for the Titans’ brand of baseball.

“He’s such a scrapper,” Brontsema said. “He’s typical of the kind of player Fullerton has had through the years, and the way they scrap and score runs.”

Some might say that Bacani, 5 feet 8 and 165 pounds, has taken it to an even higher level.

He has the opportunity this season to become the first player selected to the All-Big West Conference first team four times.

That’s a reflection of the level of respect Bacani has earned among conference coaches.

“When we play Fullerton, one of the things we concentrate on is trying to keep Bacani off the bases because he always seems to get them going,” Brontsema said.

Long Beach State Coach Dave Snow agrees. “He’s a real force for them,” Snow said. “I have a lot of respect for the way he plays the game.”

As the Titan leadoff man, Bacani batted .358 and was second on the team in runs batted in with 44 last season. He led the team in runs scored, doubles, walks and total bases.

Bacani has scored 198 runs in four seasons, 36 shy of the school’s career record of 234 set by John Fishel in 1982-85.

Bacani takes pride in the fact that his batting average and his RBI total have improved each season. He batted .317 as a freshman and .332 as a sophomore. He drove in 29 runs in his first season and 33 the next.

“I try to get better as a player every day, and give it 100% all the time,” Bacani said.

Fullerton Coach George Horton says he can count on that from Bacani.

“David’s motor is always running,” Horton said. “When they say, ‘Play ball,’ you never have to worry about David being ready to do it. He’s a baseball coach’s dream from that standpoint. He plays the game at the right speed: hard.”

Horton said he remembers only once in Bacani’s college career when he thought Bacani didn’t give a play his best effort.

“It was two years ago [in the College World Series] against Texas A&M;,” Horton said. “There was a ball hit in the hole between first and second, and David wasn’t able to handle the ball cleanly and it got away from him. Instead of running it down, David walked after it, and the runner at second went to third.”

Bacani remembers it.

“The World Series was the first time I’d played before that many people, and I guess I wasn’t ahead of the game the way I usually am,” Bacani said. “The ball had a lot of spin on it, and I was frustrated and forgot there was a guy on second.”

Solid defense has been one of Bacani’s strengths throughout his career. He made only six errors in 281 chances last season.

“I’m not sure everyone recognizes how good his skills are defensively because he does so many things well at the plate,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. “He’s such a good leadoff man because he’s very patient, and he’s a good two-strike hitter.”

Bacani had the winning hit Friday night in the bottom of the ninth when Fullerton rallied for a 5-4 victory over Stanford.

Bacani said he’s trying to become more of a leader for this season’s team, ranked 12th by Collegiate Baseball and 15th by Baseball America in preseason polls. Fullerton is 1-3 going into a game today at second-ranked USC after losing two of three games to Stanford last weekend.

“There are a lot of new guys on this team, and I’m trying to help show them the way we do things,” Bacani said. “Our game is a lot more complex than what they’ve played in high school. I’m trying to be another coach on the field, and the young guys seem to be willing to listen.”

Bacani established a reputation for toughness as a freshman when he set a school record for being hit by pitches 30 times. It helped him lead the team with a .486 on-base percentage. He has been hit 51 times in his career, also a school record.

Horton liked the competitive spirit Bacani showed his first season and moved him into the lineup quickly, first at shortstop and then at second base. He was a pleasant surprise.

“We liked the way he did all the little things right,” Horton said. “He wasn’t highly recruited out of high school. We saw him at a camp and liked him. It was a gamble that paid off.”

John Bryant, who coached Bacani for three years at Los Alamitos High and is now an assistant at Santa Ana College, thinks Bacani’s confidence in himself has been vindicated by his performance the last three years.

“Fullerton was about the only contact I had from a college about him,” said Bryant, who played on the Titans’ 1984 national championship team. “I’m sure his size scared a lot of people away. There were naysayers, but I feel good for David that he went out and did what he was capable of doing.”

Horton thinks Bacani’s size also has weighed heavily in evaluations by professional scouts.

Bacani was eligible for the draft last June, but wasn’t taken. “I’m sure he probably could have signed with someone if he wanted to,” Horton said.

Bacani expects to play professionally after this season.

“The pros draft guys a lot of the time based on size and and potential, rather than their college performances,” Bacani said. “I don’t have the kind of size that impresses pro scouts. But I’ve had to work through that the whole time I’ve played baseball. All I want is a chance.”

Gillespie thinks Bacani will get it, and probably do well.

“If he does well in professional baseball, it won’t come as a surprise to any of the college coaches around here,” Gillespie said.