Delivery Man

Winning the College World Series was Sergio Pedroza’s biggest sports thrill -- and one of his most exasperating experiences.

The Cal State Fullerton right fielder was a bit player last season in the Titans’ march to the national title in Omaha, starting only one Series game even though he was one of the team’s best hitters.

The problem was that Pedroza, a converted catcher learning a new position, was a defensive liability. “There was a point last year where we couldn’t get him out of there quick enough after three at-bats” for a defensive replacement, Fullerton Coach George Horton said.

Concerns about his defense had persisted to where Horton used Pedroza as the designated hitter last weekend -- for the first time all season -- in the first two games of an NCAA regional at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

So guess who made the catch that saved the Titans’ season?

With Fullerton clinging to a two-run lead in the ninth inning of an elimination game against Missouri, the Tigers loaded the bases with two out. That’s when Pedroza, back in right field, made a sprawling catch near the right-field line after a long run for the last out.

“When he caught it I just started laughing,” Titan left fielder Danny Dorn said. “It was such an unbelievable play.”

The catch seemed to ignite the Titans (45-16), who climbed out of the loser’s bracket to advance to a best-of-three super-regional beginning Friday against Arizona State (37-22) at Goodwin Field.

As a designated hitter in the regional, Pedroza had failed to put up numbers worthy of his status as co-Big West Conference Player of the Year. He was one for nine with five strikeouts as the Titans split their first two games.

Moving back to right field against Missouri didn’t immediately jolt the junior out of his slump. He struck out and hit into a double play before stepping to the plate in the ninth inning with the Titans down by a run and potentially three outs away from the end of their season.

Then, ahead in the count 2-0, he hit a two-run homer to left-center field that gave the Titans a one-run lead.

“I tried to keep my swing short and put it over the shortstop’s head,” Pedroza said. “The ball just flew off my bat, and I didn’t know it went over the fence until I got to second base and I heard everybody screaming.”

Fullerton stretched its lead to two runs before taking the field in the bottom of the ninth, where Titan closer Vinnie Pestano retired the first two Tigers before things got dicey. Pestano gave up a single, hit a batter and walked the next hitter on a full count to load the bases.

Missouri’s Jacob Priday then hit a bloop that looked as if it might fall just inside the right-field line. A hit would have at least tied the score and perhaps allowed the winning run to score all the way from first base.

“When I saw it off the bat, at first I thought it was going to be foul,” Pedroza said. “I started sprinting, and it seemed like the further I ran, the further the ball got away from me. It ended up being fair, and I got there.”

Said Horton: “I can’t remember anybody having a better ninth inning offensively and defensively. He put us ahead with the bat and won the game with his glove. I’m on summer vacation if he doesn’t do those things. It was huge.”

Pedroza wasn’t finished. In the next game, a rematch with Arizona, the team that had knocked the Titans into the loser’s bracket, he singled and scored the first run in the fourth inning and belted a three-run homer in the fifth that put the Titans comfortably ahead en route to a 7-2 victory that forced a decisive final game between the teams.

Fullerton won that one too, 6-3, to advance to the super-regional.

Pedroza got more good news Tuesday when the Dodgers selected him in the third round of the amateur draft.

“It gives me a chill to see where he was drafted and how far he’s come,” Horton said. “One of the things we’re very proud of is how he’s improved from what we thought was a defensive liability to a guy who plays a decent right field now.”

Pedroza used the indignity of last year’s College World Series -- an experience he called “a real tough thing” -- as motivation to improve his defensive skills. He spent hours tracking fly balls and working on angles with outfield coach Rick Vanderhook.

“I’m still getting the hang of it and learning the angles,” Pedroza said. “All the other outfielders played it their whole life. Sometimes they get a little angry with me.”

Pedroza was rewarded with starts in the outfield in every game he played leading up to the regional.

No one questions Pedroza’s production as a hitter. He’s batting .330 with 15 homers, 54 runs batted in and a .622 slugging percentage.

However, the slightly built 6-foot, 175-pounder does have a wacky batting movement in which he wags the tip of the bat toward the pitcher before settling into a conventional stance.

“Quite frankly, sometimes it’s a little embarrassing,” Horton said. “But when you’re hitting as well as he is, you don’t mess around with it.”