This spring marks the 20th anniversary of the San Jose State baseball team making it to the 2000 College World Series.
For the first time since 1971, SJSU had earned an NCAA tournament berth after the Spartans emerged as Western Athletic Conference co-champions along with Rice University.
SJSU had an overall record of 41-24 and went 20-10 in conference play under head coach Sam Piraro, who was WAC Coach of the Year in 2000.
“1999 was the build-up of the 2000 season,” Piraro said. “We had a lot of freshmen and sophomores . . . It was the same team just a year older and more experienced.”
Former SJSU outfielder Junior Ruiz, who won WAC player of the year in 2000, said while the 1999 team ranked No. 24 in the nation for recruiting, the season was a puzzle piece that the team was still trying to put together.
“We lost to [Texas Christian University] in the [Regional] playoffs and that kind of resonated with us,” Ruiz said. “It felt like the fuel we needed to be better the next season.”
Piraro said one way to judge a team’s talent is if it plays well away from home. So after the team won some away games in the season, he knew momentum was building.
“By half way into the season, I could tell if we stayed healthy . . . That we were going in a direction that we were excited about,” Piraro said.
Former SJSU catcher Adam Shorsher, who was a sophomore at the time, said one affirmation to the team’s success in 2000 was their annual spring break trip to Hawaii for a tournament.
“It was a very difficult place to play,” Shorsher said. “You take a young college student and put them in Hawaii for spring break and tell them don’t try and have fun on the island or go out past 11 p.m.”
Shorsher said that the trip didn’t go well the previous year in 1999, but once the team came home with the successful road trip in 2000, he knew the Spartans had a chance to be great that season.
“We had tremendous chemistry with the group of guys that we had,” he said. “Collectively, we were not a fantastically talented group but we understood each other‘s goals.”
Piraro said he was incredibly honest and straightforward with the team as the head coach, and the players responded with consistency.
“ ‘Listen guys, if we could go 10-5 these next 15 games, we’re going to be in great shape,’ ” Piraro would tell the team.
The Spartans actually did go 10-5 in that span, despite the team being upset with Piraro for implying future losses.
“He is a master planner with his goals, whether they’re short term or long term,” Ruiz said. “He tells us, ‘If we do these things then we will be able to go to regionals and give ourselves a chance at the [College] World Series.’ ”
Ruiz said the team had to win a series against specific teams.
“We had to sweep certain teams, like, we had to win against Fresno two out of three both times,” Ruiz said. “It was an entire mathematical equation.”
The Spartans even used tactics such as getting hit by pitches to get on base.
“If we were willing to be able to be hit by a pitch, we can intimidate the other teams,” Ruiz said. “It helps you get on base and raises your [on-base] percentage, which increases your chance of scoring.”
SJSU batters were hit by pitches 105 times that season. Shorsher led the team, getting plunked 16 times.
Former SJSU pitcher Tim Adinolfi said following the expectations and goals of the coaching staff throughout the season led them to be a winning team. He said the family culture was also a reason why the team was so successful.
“This season wouldn’t have even happened if it hadn’t been for the fact that most of the team lived in the same apartment complex,” Adinolfi said. “We were all very close, it turned into this brotherhood.”
Piraro said the moment he remembers the most was when the team had the chance to clinch the regionals against the University of Florida.
“[Adinolfi] had pitched a beautiful game, we were leading 8-5 with two outs and nobody on base and we were one out from winning that game,” Piraro said.
The Gators then scored four runs, winning the game and left the Spartans devastated, but Piraro said he had to make sure the team's confidence wasn’t shot because the season wasn’t over.
“I had to talk to them and just let them know, like, ‘Hey, you guys beat out everyone in the series,’ ” Piraro said. “That’s the reason they could go out to play the next day.”
The Monday after, the team beat the Gators 3-1.
“It was really gratifying . . . I don’t think anybody thought we could win that regional,” former SJSU outfielder and team captain Ryan Brucker said.
As the Spartans moved onto the Super Regionals, they needed to win a three-game series against the University of Houston in order to advance to the College World Series.
SJSU won the first game against the Cougars and lost the second in extra innings.
“My good friend [outfielder] Rob Douglas hit a home run to put us ahead in the [third] game and that was special because Douglas had been in and out of the lineup that year,” Brucker said. “That was probably the biggest home run in San Jose State history because it got us into the [College] World Series.”
Adinolfi said a program like Stanford University expects to go to the College World Series, but for SJSU it was a far-fetched dream.
“Nobody expected much from us,” Ruiz said. “From regionals to the [College] World Series, everyone was just really proud to be a Spartan.”
