Fullerton’s Success Is a Group Effort

If George Horton wanted to assemble a time capsule commemorating Cal State Fullerton’s latest trip to the College World Series, he would face some tough decisions.

Should the Titans coach include ace Wes Roemer’s uniform or slugger Brandon Tripp’s bat? Speedster Justin Turner’s cleats or catcher John Curtis’ glove?

Horton might quickly find himself needing a cavern instead of a capsule. Fullerton is such a model of balance and consistency that it’s hard to single out any player’s contributions as more significant than those of another.

The Titans feature nine players who were drafted by major league teams but none who were selected in the first three rounds, prompting a reliance on the entire roster instead of a handful of players.

“It would be tough to pick one guy out of that whole group and say he’s our MVP,” said Turner, the senior second baseman who was selected in the seventh round by the Cincinnati Reds. “A new guy does it every night.”

Perhaps that’s why the Titans are making their 14th appearance in the series in what Horton had feared might be a down year.

“We don’t have any superstars,” explained senior left fielder Danny Dorn, a 32nd-round selection by the Reds. “Everyone contributes.”

Fullerton’s everyman approach contrasts sharply with that of North Carolina, the Titans’ opponent in their series opener at 4 p.m. PDT today at Rosenblatt Stadium. The Tar Heels feature two first-round draft picks in their starting rotation alone.

Left-hander Andrew Miller was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the sixth overall pick and right-hander Daniel Bard was taken No. 28 by the Boston Red Sox, giving North Carolina (50-13) what would appear to be the most formidable one-two pitching punch among the eight teams competing for the national title.

Miller (13-2), supported by a Tar Heels offense averaging 12.4 runs in five NCAA postseason games, will start today against Roemer (13-1).

The Titans (48-13) know what it’s like to rely on a couple of stars, having leaned heavily on pitcher Jason Windsor and catcher Kurt Suzuki in 2004 en route to their fourth national title. Ten members of that Fullerton team are back in Omaha, including starters Dorn, Turner and Clark Hardman.

“A lot of us were sitting around two years ago hoping he’d get it done for us every time he came up to the plate,” Turner said of Suzuki, who batted only .143 but drove in the winning run in Fullerton’s series-clinching victory. “This year, one through nine can get it done, and every time someone goes up to the plate we know something special’s going to happen.”

Indeed, Miller will find no easy outs in a Fullerton lineup that is batting .307 in the postseason and blistered first-round draft pick Max Scherzer last week in the late innings of a 7-1 super-regional victory over Missouri.

Tripp is batting .421 with a home run in five postseason games. Shortstop Blake Davis was named most valuable player of the Fullerton regional after batting .500. And Dorn is batting .435 in the playoffs with 11 runs batted in.

“There’s a different MVP every game,” senior pitcher Dustin Miller said. “I don’t think there’s one guy that stands out.”

The same could be said for the starting rotation. Starters Roemer, Miller and Lauren Gagnier have pitched, on average, more than seven innings in the postseason while compiling a 1.70 earned-run average. As a staff, Fullerton’s 2.57 ERA this season is the best in the nation.

“They’ve taken us deep into games all year long,” Turner said of the starting pitchers. “Our bullpen’s almost underused every weekend because our starters can go so deep into games and be effective into the seventh and eighth innings.”

Relievers Ryan Paul and Cory Arbiso have almost been rendered afterthoughts by the starters’ efficiency, completing four of only five save opportunities since closer Vinnie Pestano suffered a season-ending elbow injury May 10.

The pitchers credit part of their success to a defense that reliever Paul described as “ridiculous. We have a defense that will go out there and make every play. It’s unreal.”

Horton called his infield, led by the double-play combination of Davis and Turner, the best he has coached.