COLLEGES:Serrano botches departure

It was only a few months ago that Dave Serrano, as coach of the UC Irvine baseball team that advanced to the College World Series, was making Anteaters supporters pinch themselves.

Friday, however, it was Serrano, after accepting what he termed his dream job at Cal State Fullerton, who was pinching himself, while simultaneously leaving UCI in a pinch.

Changing jobs is something that usually always involves awkward moments, and this was no exception. But Serrano could have eliminated a lot of ill will at Irvine by handling the situation better.

And make no mistake, there is ill will at Irvine, from fans, players, administrators and staff members.

His expression of no interest in the Cal State Fullerton job one week before taking the job was, at the very least, poor judgment. The fact that he continues to defend that statement as a ploy to encourage Fullerton to hire former assistant Rick Vanderhook, remains as indefensible as the well-executed safety squeeze bunts Serrano’s teams often utilized to win games.

Serrano is nothing if not forthcoming. He is, sometimes to a fault, willing to share what’s on his mind, a trait any sportswriter thoroughly appreciates.

But in this case, he should have thought better of disavowing any interest in a job he obviously coveted. Rather than issue a statement confirming he would stay at UCI, he should have either said nothing, or merely declined to offer anything but support for Vanderhook.

And, when he finally did take the job, he should have been effusively apologetic about his previous denial of interest. He should also have acknowledged that what he did was wrong.

Serrano often spoke about teaching his players lessons in life that will make them more valuable members of society when they hang up their spikes. But, in this case, he missed a chance to teach them one about accountability.

• Former Cal State Fullerton Coach George Horton, who left for Oregon to create the opening filled by Serrano, was on hand Monday when Serrano was formally introduced at Cal State Fullerton. Horton didn’t hesitate when asked about who he thought might be the best man for the UC Irvine vacancy.

“My mind, first of all goes to Rick Vanderhook, who is out of a coaching position right now,” Horton said. “I know Rick has some interest in that program. I know there will be a lot of qualified candidates, but I can’t think of a better replacement for Dave. I don’t think they need to look any further than Rick to find a guy who should lead them back into the same waters they were in this year under Dave’s leadership. I would love to see Rick get the opportunity. I think he’s a star in the making.

Horton said his assumption that Vanderhook, named associate head coach at Fullerton in June, would replace him, led to him committing to two other assistants to join him at Oregon.

Serrano finalized his staff Monday, as former UCI assistant Sergio Brown will join former Anteaters’ assistant Greg Bergeron as Titan assistants.

• Steve DiTolla, an associate athletic director for marketing who is also the baseball administrator at Cal State Fullerton was also on hand Monday. He said he was asked to apply for the vacant UCI athletic director position by the search committee and he has done so.

• Serrano thanked Horton for leaving behind a very talented baseball team, but he said it would take more than talent to the level of success it takes to reach Omaha.

It was obviously more than talent that carried UCI to its unprecedented success, including a school-record 47 wins last season.

“I think the No. 1 thing he instilled [in the Anteaters during his three-year tenure] was confidence in the players that they could compete with the likes of Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, Texas and Wichita State.”

Horton said he was not surprised that the Anteaters made it to Omaha and eliminated the Titans in a 13-inning, five-hour, 40-minute marathon that is the longest game in College World Series history.

“The [UCI] program made a transition in three years from a non-athletic team to a very athletic team,” Horton said. They had a distinct personality and they played the game at a better speed than even [the Titans]. I came back from scouting them and told our [Fullerton] players ‘You’ve got some work to do boys, because they are playing at a different speed.’ I saw that train coming down the tracks.

• Former Tennessee Coach Rod Delmonico may have the most impressive resume, should he follow through on his initial inquiries into the UCI vacancy and apply.

Delmonico, who discussed the job with Serrano by phone Sunday, was 699-371 in 18 seasons in Knoxville, including College World Series appearances in 2005, 2001 and 1995.

He guided the Volunteers to a pair of 50-win seasons and nine 40-win seasons and two Southeastern Conference titles. His teams won at least 30 games seven of the last eight years, including a 34-25 record in 2007.