Last year’s season ended very abruptly, one out short of reaching Omaha. Your 2011 Fullerton Titans are ready for another great year at Goodwin Field. Even though we may have lost two first round picks in Christian Colon and Gary Brown, as well as the past Blog Man, Kevin Rath, we have reloaded with newcomers such as Blake Barber, Michael Lorenzen, Josef Terry, Christian Coronado, Chris Devinski and many other important pieces to the 2011 Titans.
Last season many of you probably will best recognize me as the player who ran the balls out to the umpire and retrieved foul balls. I am Jake Floethe, a Junior transfer from Fresno State; I sat out last season due to the NCAA transfer rule. I am a right handed pitcher, who was lucky enough to pitch for the 2008 Fresno State National Championship team. I am very honored and fortunate to be welcomed into the great tradition of Cal State Fullerton Baseball.
As I scroll through the Fullerton baseball website I came upon our opening day video of Richy Pedroza (Link to "You Better Believe Me"). I could not help but get chills from watching this video. Richy may appear to be just 5 feet 7 inches at the short stop position, but he has the biggest heart and an uncanny feeling for the game that you can not put into words.
As the season creeps up just days away, the Fullerton Titans can not wait for our opening game, February 18 against our archrivals the Long Beach State Dirtbags. We have spent countless hours getting ready for this season, from running on the track at 6am to thousands of groundballs, numerous bullpen sessions and countless swings, the 2011 Titans are finally ready. We will be facing one of the toughest schedules in the Nation this season, including trips to Louisiana State University, Texas Christian, Texas A&M and of course Hawaii. We also play UCLA, Arizona State and many national rank teams at home.
We can not look past the first weekend. Noe Ramirez will be returning to the mound on Friday night against the Long Beach State Dirtbags. Noe had a great sophomore year for the 2010 Titans receiving All-American Honors. He will be leading our strong pitching staff into the first weekend series against Long Beach and North Carolina. (Link to Noe's "Preparation")
I will be updating my blog at least once a week while we are playing in Fullerton or on the road. This blog will also consist of a “Newcomer of the week”, which will allow you the fans to get to know the 2011 Titans a little better. I would like to think the past blog men such as Kevin Rath, Jared Clark and Jon Wilhite. Hope to see you all out at Goodwin Field this season!
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: Grahamm Wiest
If you weren’t playing baseball, what do you think you would be doing with your life?
I would be a waiter at BJ’s Bar and Grill, and going to Cal-State Fullerton.
Do you have a nickname? And how did you get it?
Gill is my nickname, which comes from my umpiring skills in inter-squads. I may be the best umpire around, behind the plate as well as on the base paths. My umpiring partner Tito (Noe Ramirez) makes a great duo.
What are you looking forward to the most about this upcoming season?
I am looking forward to playing the best teams in the nation and going to Omaha. Not too many freshmen are lucky enough to travel to places such as LSU, TCU and Hawaii. Growing up in Orange County and knowing the importance of the rivalry against Long Beach State, I can not wait for my first college baseball game against our rivals.
