1982: The Grand Illusion Mike Kasprzak No single play did more to bring national exposure to the College World Series than the Grand Illusion. Miami assistants Skip Bertman and Dave Scott were scouting the Florida junior college championships in 1982 when they saw West Palm Beach Community College pull a phantom pickoff play. During a workout a month later at the CWS, Bertman decided to have some fun. "We put the play in as a relaxer," said Bertman, who went on to win five national championships as Louisiana State's head coach. "It was just a humorous thing. We had no intention of using it. The kids had a blast with it. They thought it was funny." Miami's opponent the next day was Wichita State, which was on its way to an NCAA single-season record 333 stolen bases, a mark that still stands. Bertman set four conditions to use the play: a Shockers player had to be coaching first base; one of their top basestealers had to be on base; it had to be dusk; and the runner had to dive back on the first pickoff move. Lo and behold, all four criteria were met with the Hurricanes clinging to a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning of the June 7 game. On first base was All-American Phil Stephenson, who set an NCAA mark with 87 steals that season and still owns the record for career steals. Stephenson dove back to first on pitcher Mike Kasprzak's pickoff move. Kasprzak then looked to the dugout, where Bertman stuck his finger in his ear, flashing the prearranged signal. After throwing a strike, Kasprzak took his foot off the rubber and seemingly fired a throw to first. First baseman Steve Lusby dove over a prone Stephenson. Second baseman Mitch Seaone and right fielder Mickey Williams frantically dashed toward the right-field bullpen, where pitchers Dan Smith and Bob Walker and even Hurricanes batgirls pretended to elude the ball. Even the fans were fooled. Spectators in the right-field bleachers stood to look for the ball as players in the Miami dugout pointed to where the ball seemed to be. When Stephenson took off for second, Kasprzak took the ball from his glove and threw it to shortstop Billy Wrona. A sheepish Stephenson was tagged out, killing the Wichita State rally. The Hurricanes made their 4-3 lead hold up to win the game. The play made it onto ESPN and local broadcasts across the country, as well as nationally syndicated shows such as "This Week in Baseball." The play so spooked the opposition that when Hurricanes pitcher Rob Souza really did throw a pickoff into center field against Maine later in the tournament, the runner stayed put. The Black Bears were convinced Souza had tossed the rosin bag. In the championship game, the Hurricanes again faced off against Wichita State, and the Grand Illusion remained in the minds of the Shockers. Wichita State stole only one base, helping the Hurricanes gain a 9-3 victory and the first of their four national championships. "The thing that play did for college baseball was make it notable," Bertman said. "Everybody knew about the play. When I went to LSU in 1984 . . . I heard one guy say, 'What we need is a coach who can run that pickoff play.' He had no idea who I was, of course." link
other great CWS moments per baseball america 1993: Freshman Brett Laxton’s 16 K Gem Brett Laxton photo: Joe Mixan Of all the great pitching performances in College World Series history, arguably the most dominating single outing in a title game came from a freshman. In the 1993 College World Series, Louisiana State made the title game by the thinnest of margins. After posting comebacks in their first two games, the Tigers used a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Long Beach State 6-5 in the semifinals. The victory put LSU in the championship game, but cost them star senior lefthander Mike Sirotka, who threw all nine innings. Facing Wichita State for the title, Tigers coach Skip Bertman had no hesitation in sending freshman Brett Laxton to the mound. "I just wasn't worried about the guy being nervous," Bertman said. "It never crossed my mind." Laxton proved his coach's confidence was justified. The Tigers jumped on top early when second baseman Todd Walker hit a two-run homer in the first inning, padding his credentials as the series' Most Outstanding Player. Louisiana State added three runs in the second and two more in the third, as Walker and center fielder Armando Rios combined to drive in seven of the Tigers' eight runs on the day. As it turned out, Walker's first-inning shot gave Laxton all the runs he needed. Throwing mostly fastballs with the occasional slider, Laxton overpowered the Shockers, never allowing a runner past second base in notching a shutout. Laxton finished with 16 strikeouts to go with his three-hitter, breaking the championship-game record set by Arizona State's Tom Burgess in 1967. His shutout was also the first and only in a series finale since 1961, when Southern California's Jim Withers turned the trick. "It's been a long time since anybody beat us like that with one pitch," Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson said. "We were looking fastball, and we got a truckload of them." Louisiana State rode Laxton's truckload of fastballs to its second championship in three years. The preeminent team of the 1990s went on to win five from 1991-2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1994: Warren Morris’ HR Warren Morris goes yard When Warren Morris arrived at Louisiana State in 1992, he didn't fit the bill of someone destined to make college baseball history. Morris entered school on an academic scholarship, and made the baseball team as a 5-foot-11, 150 pound walk-on. "I looked around," Morris said, "and the only person I was bigger than was the equipment manager." He spent the 1993 season as a redshirt behind All-American second baseman Todd Walker. After Walker's departure, however, Morris took advantage of the opening and earned the starting nod at second, a role he would keep for three years. He worked hard on the field as well as in the classroom, adding 20 pounds and earning a 3.57 grade-point average as a pre-med zoology major. His humble, persevering attitude is why coach Skip Bertman called what happened to Morris early in 1996 the saddest thing he'd seen at Louisiana State. Morris, a preseason All-American, was hampered by wrist problems that limited him to 14 regular-season starts. After being mystified all season as to the cause of his troubles, doctors finally diagnosed a broken hamate bone in Morris' right hand. Morris had surgery to remove the bone April 24, putting in jeopardy his prospects for the postseason and the Atlanta Olympics as well. The resilient Morris missed just 28 days before triumphantly returning to earn all-tournament honors at the NCAA South II Regional. And so a healthy Morris found himself strolling to the plate on June 8 in the bottom of the ninth of the championship game, in a situation every young ballplayer dreams about. With the Tigers trailing 8-7, Miami closer Robbie Morrison had just struck out catcher Tim Lanier, leaving Brad Wilson at third base with the Hurricanes only one out away from winning the College World Series. As Morris prepared for the most important at-bat of his life, someone in the Tigers dugout remarked, "Warren hasn't hit a home run all season." There have been a number of dramatic hits in CWS play, but it took 50 years for a walk-off home run to determine the national championship. On the first pitch, Morris crushed Morrison's curveball on a line toward the right-field fence. As he rounded first base, Morris screamed as he watched the ball just clear the wall, sending LSU to a heart-stopping 9-8 victory and the national title in a script too perfect for Hollywood. Miami third baseman Pat Burrell lay face down in the infield as Morris rounded the bases exulting, an image captured in a picture that ran nationwide. "I hadn't hit a home run in so long, I didn't know what one looked like," Morris said. The one and only home run of Morris' season proved to be the only two-out, walk-off, come-from-behind home run ever in the deciding game of a World Series, major leagues included. Bill Mazeroski? The game was tied. Kirk Gibson? It came in the first game. Joe Carter? If he didn't take Mitch Williams deep, the Blue Jays could have come back the next day with another chance to win the championship. Warren Morris, meanwhile, who came to LSU as a walk-on with an academic scholarship, hit the most clutch home run ever in a World Series. "Isn't it ironic that Warren Morris would be there to hit his first home run of the year?" Bertman asked rhetorically. "That shows you that the kids who are the greatest always come through." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000: Cresse’s Game Winner Brad Cresse Warren Morris isn't the only Louisiana State player to win a College World Series championship game in the bottom of the ninth. In the 2000 CWS, catcher Brad Cresse--who arrived in Baton Rouge the year after Morris' title-winning shot--enjoyed some heroics of his own. Cresse, who led the nation with 30 home runs, 217 total bases and 106 RBIs, is lucky he even had the opportunity to bat with the winning run on base in the title game. Stanford took a 5-2 lead over the Tigers into the eighth inning, on the strength of a grand slam by first baseman Craig Thompson and the pitching of star righthanders Jason Young and Justin Wayne. Only six outs away from defeat, the Tigers rallied against Wayne, who had already been drafted fifth overall by the Expos and had stymied LSU with seven strikeouts in his first three innings of relief. Senior third baseman and team captain Blair Barbier, fresh off a motivational team speech in the dugout, fought off several two-strike pitches before launching a solo homer to leftfield, bringing the Bayou-flavored crowd to its feet. The rattled Wayne then walked freshman Wally Pontiff, and after getting an out faced another senior, outfielder Jeremy Witten. Down 1-2 in the count, Witten fouled off a pitch before lining a home run to left field, tying the game at five and setting the stage for another LSU senior to cap the comeback. Despite his gaudy regular season numbers, Cresse was 1-for-12 with eight strikeouts in the CWS when he stepped to the plate to face Wayne in the bottom of the ninth with runners on first and second and no outs. Cresse had struck out on three pitches in both of his previous at-bats against Wayne, but he lined a 0-1 pitch (the eighth straight slider he'd seen from Wayne) into left field to plate the winning run, earning LSU its fifth title in the previous 10 years. Ryan Theriot, who scored from second on Cresse's single, slid across the plate and then tossed his batting helmet into the crowd. The rest of the Tigers surrounded him, and then ran to embrace Cresse, who was standing alone on the basepaths. "You always want to go out winning the national championship, and it came true," Cresse said. "Last night, I dreamt about being up at the plate with the winning run on base. I dreamt of a home run, but I'll take a single." Though Cresse's single may not have traveled as far as Morris' home run, it certainly went a long way towards earning him a spot alongside Morris in the hearts of Tigers fans.
