Titans become ‘Eaters

Two former Cal State Fullerton Titans are the final two additions to

the UC Irvine baseball coaching staff, announced by Anteaters’ head

coach Dave Serrano on Monday.

Sergio Brown and Chad Baum reunite with Serrano, who was hired by

UCI earlier this month to replace former head man John Savage, who

took the head coaching position at UCLA. Serrano served as pitching

coach and recruiting coordinator at Cal State Fullerton the past

eight years.

Brown, who will work with the infielders and be in charge of

recruiting, joins UCI after serving as Fullerton’s director of

baseball operations for two years (2001-’03), helping the Titans

reach the College World Series in 2003.

Prior to his stint at Fullerton, Brown was an assistant coach at

Cypress College from 1995 to 2002, where he helped lead the Chargers

to a state championship in 1999. Brown worked with position players,

instructed on baserunning and served as recruiting coordinator.

Players Brown has worked with current major league players Keith

Ginter (Milwaukee Brewers) and Gerald Laird (Texas Rangers), as well

as Cory Sullivan, a former All-American at Wake Forest.

Brown played on the 1995 Titans squad that won the national

championship.

Baum, who will instruct the catchers and outfielders and work with

Brown on the ‘Eaters offense, was a volunteer assistant at Fullerton

the last three years, including for this spring’s national

championship team. He was instrumental in developing 2004 Johnny

Bench Award winner Kurt Suzuki, a first-team All-American and

second-round pick by the Oakland Athletics in the June draft.

Baum, a former catcher, captained the 1998 and ’99 Fullerton

teams. During that span, he hit three home runs in 38 games and

tallied a 1.000 fielding percentage. Before joining the Titans, Baum

spent a season each at Golden West and Santa Ana colleges. He hit

.306 for the Dons in 1997, when they were ranked No. 1 in the country for most of the season. He was selected in the 42nd round by the San

Francisco Giants in the 1997 draft.

“Both Sergio Brown and Chad Baum bring energy and great character

to the coaching staff,” Serrano said. “Their past experience on the

national level will continue the climb of UC Irvine baseball.”

UCI finished 38-14-1 last season, earning a berth into the 64-team

NCAA regional field.

Johnson, a Bengal again

* FOOTBALL: Eddie Johnson, a former Newport Harbor High and Orange

Coast College standout punter, was picked up on waivers by the

Cincinnati Bengals Monday.

Johnson, a sixth-round pick of Minnesota in 2003, was released by

the Vikings Friday. Johnson and his agent, Ken Harris, requested the

release shortly after the Vikings signed veteran punter Darren

Bennett in March.

Johnson, who played at Idaho State, said he was excited to play

for the Bengals and added he was motivated to have a better year than

his rookie season, when he was replaced late in the season by Leo

Araguz after dropping snaps in three consecutive games.

Last year, Johnson handled 56 of Minnesota’s 63 punts. He averaged

39.1 yards per punt with a net average of 32.6 yards. He had five

touchbacks and 12 inside-the-20 kicks.

“This is just a real exciting time,” Johnson said in a phone

interview. “There is motivation. I didn’t have a very good year. I

feel like I have the ability to do so much more. It was very

frustrating for me to have that year. But I’m totally motivated and I

want to play at a higher level than I did.”

Johnson said he will travel to Kentucky today, heading for

Georgetown College, where the Bengals begin training camp on Friday.

The 6-foot-3, 236-pound Johnson, an All-American punter from Idaho

State, will battle for the punter spot with veteran Kyle Richardson

and rookie free-agent Kyle Larson.

Johnson said he felt no animosity toward the Vikings, yet he was

extremely excited to become a Bengal, again, as Idaho State has the

same nickname. He also liked the fact that Coach Marvin Lewis is a

former Idaho State standout linebacker.

-Steve Virgen

FoxForce finishes strong against Breakers

* TENNIS: The host Hartford FoxForce claimed the final two sets

and forced a super tiebreaker to defeat the Newport Beach Breakers,

23-22, in both teams’ final World Team Tennis regular-season match

Sunday at the Blue Fox Run Golf Course in Avon, Conn.

Hartford (9-5), the Eastern Conference champion, won the fifth set

to pull within, 22-19, and evened the match at 22 by winning all

three points in overtime. The FoxForce then won the super tiebreaker,

7-2, to post the victory.

The Breakers led, 15-9, after three of the five sets, but

Hartford’s Don Johnson and Lisa McShea teamed to defeat Ellis

Ferreira and Nana Miyagi, 5-4 (5-4), in mixed doubles followed by

Milagros Sequera’s 5-3 triumph over Newport’s Stephanie Hazlett.

Newport’s Ramon Delgado outlasted Wesley Whitehouse, 5-4 (5-3) in

men’s singles and later teamed with Ferreira to down Johnson and

Whitehouse, 5-3, in men’s doubles.

Despite the loss, the Breakers (8-6) finished second to the

Sacramento Capitals (13-1) and advance to the WTT playoffs for the

first time in their two-year existence. Newport finished 7-7 last

season.

Newport will face Sacramento in one WTT semifinal Aug. 27 at the

United States Tennis Association National Tennis Center in Flushing

Meadows, N.Y., site of the U.S. Open, which begins three days later.

Hartford will face the Delaware Smash, who defeated Sacramento to

claim last year’s league title, in the other semifinal.

The final is Aug. 28.