June 16, 2007

UCI relishes role as 'new guys'
The Anteaters, in their first trip to Omaha, have picked up plenty of support.
By JANIS CARR
The Orange County Register

OMAHA, Neb.Mike Pugliese sat with his feet on the wooden fence railing, fielding question after question.

Where is Irvine? How long have you been playing baseball? Are you near Cal State Fullerton? You guys are Anteaters?

By virtue of his seat, the freshman reserve catcher had become UC Irvine's unofficial information officer. Pugliese simply wanted to people-watch Friday as he and about 100 Irvine fans, family members and players gathered at Eater Nation, the team's impromptu fan site for a barbecue. Instead, he played question-and-answer man.

"The biggest question is 'Where are you located?' because Irvine isn't a well-known city," Pugliese said. "When I tell them we're located north of Laguna Beach that turns some heads because they've watched MTV."

An estimated 250 people — mostly family and friends — have made the trip to watch fourth-ranked ranked Irvine play in its first College World Series. The Anteaters have become this year's adopted darlings, and in around Omaha, they love the new kid.

A local baseball fan was purchasing a 24-pack of water and several bags of sunflower seeds at a downtown convenience store. The clerk, noticing his items, asked which team he was rooting for.

"UC Irvine because they're the new guys," the shopper said.

Fullerton has built a large local fan base because the Titans, like the Anteaters, are not one from a football-powerhouse school and people tend to root for an underdog. Besides, who can resist a cuddly Anteater?

Not Vince Grippi, an Irvine alumnus.

Grippi, a columnist for the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., made his reservations as soon as the final out was recorded Sunday in Irvine's NCAA super regional victory against Wichita State, footing the entire bill himself.

"My wife (also a UCI alum) and I have talked about this for years, that if Irvine ever went to the World Series, I wanted to go," Grippi said. "So I've been saving my money for 30 years."

Once Irvine secured a berth, Grippi called his college roommate, John Kremer, a Newport Beach attorney, and talked him into booking a trip to the Midwest. It was an easy sell.

Kremer pitched for the Anteaters from 1975-79, missing out on Irvine's Division II national championship by a year. The Anteaters won titles in 1973 and '74.

"I have an active case load and really shouldn't be here, but I've always supported Irvine's program and always said that I would want to be part of their first World Series," Kremer said.

Kremer isn't the only former player who trekked the 1,577 miles to Omaha. Mark Stowell played his final season for the Anteaters in 1980, when the team just missed out on the CWS.

That year, the Anteaters finished second in the conference to defending national champion Cal State Fullerton, but their strength of schedule and rating wasn't high enough to land a berth, Stowell said. Stowell said he remembers the day then-coach Steve Hertz told the team, which had gathered at Crawford Hall, that it had not been invited.

"We had a legitimate shot back then and it was hard because it would be another 26, 27 years before we got another," he said.

Stowell, whose son, Bryce, is a redshirt freshman transfer, said he would have made the trip regardless of his son's involvement.

"It's so good to see not only how the program has been resurrected but also the fulfilling of dreams of kids who played there before," Stowell said.

Mike Sheline, the Anteaters' first recruit, and Rocky Craig, the first team captain, were driving from Denver to witness Irvine history. Craig, now an associate scout with the Seattle Mariners, was upset when the program was dropped in 1992.

"I was very disappointed when I heard they gave up the program," he said. "I cried when I heard. We laid a foundation. We had tradition."

Orange County-based Irvine fans are expected to have plenty of company inside the 20,000-plus seat stadium, giving the Anteaters a sizeable support group, something they didn't have at the regional and super regional.

The Anteaters faced hostile crowds at Round Rock, Texas, and Wichita, Kan., yet still managed to emerge victorious. Irvine ace Scott Gorgen said this will be a new experience.

"We'll have them in our back pocket, at least half of them, which is something cool," Gorgen said. "It's something interesting, something none of us have experienced. We're underdogs, first-timers and I hope we can go out there and do it right."