September 13, 2007

Irvine's coach takes Horton's spot at Fullerton
The Ducks' new coach left a vacancy that has started the dominoes toppling in baseball

BRIAN MEEHAN
The Oregonian Staff

The University of Oregon's baseball revival continues to have repercussions among college coaching ranks on the West Coast.

After Oregon lured George Horton from national power Cal State Fullerton, the Titans hired Baseball America's 2007 national coach of the year, a man who withdrew his name for the Ducks' job -- UC Irvine's Dave Serrano.

Serrano, who led the Anteaters to the College World Series in June, was introduced at a news conference Monday at Goodwin Field on the Fullerton campus.

Serrano initially announced he was not interested in the position, saying it should go to longtime Fullerton assistant Rick Vanderhook. But when Fullerton athletic director Brian Quinn indicated Vanderhook was not being offered the position, Serrano applied for the job.

Serrano pitched for the Titans in 1986 and later served as an assistant coach under Horton at Cerritos College, a two-year school in Norwalk, Calif., in 1988. At Fullerton, Serrano was Horton's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for seven seasons before accepting the Irvine job in 2004.

Serrano said Monday that he was bringing two Irvine assistants -- hitting coach Greg Bergeron and recruiting coordinator Sergio Brown -- with him to Fullerton.

Paula Smith, Irvine's interim athletic director, said Serrano's change of heart about the Fullerton job took her by surprise. She said the Anteaters are in the midst of a national search but declined to comment about specific candidates. Smith did say she hoped to hire a coach before the Anteaters begin fall practice Oct. 4.

Among the reported applicants is Mike Gillespie, who retired in 2006 as the head coach of USC. Gillespie won five Pacific-10 Conference championships, one national championship and sent 25 Trojans to the big leagues during 20 seasons at USC.

Gillespie, 67, spent the past season managing the New York Yankees' Class A team in Staten Island, N.Y., in the New York-Penn League.