Sat November 22, 2008
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Mike Gillespie's re-entry into the Division I college baseball coaching ranks can only be deemed a success. After managing the Staten Island Yankees in 2006-07, Gillespie returned to the collegiate game to take over the reins of the UCI program in the fall of 2007 and promptly led the team to its fourth NCAA postseason appearance in five years. The Anteaters went 3-0 at the Nebraska regional to advance to the Baton Rouge Super Regional in Louisiana. Ending the season ranked 11th (Baseball America), the team recorded the second-highest number of wins in their Division I history at 42-18 while the pitchers set record marks in strikeouts with 503 as well as posting a 3.27 ERA, the lowest since 1974 and also the third-best in the country. Pitchers Scott Gorgen and Eric Pettis picked up a combined eight All-America Awards while six Anteaters were named All-Big West. Highlighting the group was Gorgen, who became UCI's first-ever Big West Pitcher of the Year. Gillespie became UC Irvine's eighth head coach and third since the program was reinstated in 2002. Currently ranked in the top 40 among the winningnest active coaches, Gillespie managed the Staten Island Yankees in 2006-07 prior to joining the UC Irvine staff in October of 2007. Gillespie's coaching fame includes a 15-year career at USC, where he guided his teams to 15 postseason appearances, four College World Series appearances (1995, 1998, 2000 and 2001) and a national title in 1998 for which Gillespie was named National Coach of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association. His reign at USC began in 1987 and in just his second season, guided the Trojans to the West Regional, falling just one game shy of the College World Series. USC made four consecutive regional appearances, including winning the conference title in 1991. From 1993, Gillespie led USC to an impressive 10 consecutive postseason appearances that included back-to-back College World Series appearances in 2000 and 2001, marking the first time USC accomplished the feat since 1973 and 1974. His teams won five Pacific-10 titles with Gillespie garnering Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors four times (1991, 1995, 1996, 2002) and the West Region Coach of the Year accolades twice (1996 and 1998) by the American Baseball Coaches Association. In 2002, Gillespie directed his talents to the USA Baseball National Team, leading the team to a 27-3-1 record and posting the highest winning percentage (.900) in history until the mark was surpassed by the 2003 team. The national team reeled off a 21-game unbeaten streak at the end of the season, including the Haarlem Honkbal Week championship in the Netherlands, where Team USA captured the crown with an 8-5 win against Cuba. For his efforts, Gillespie was nominated by the United States Olympic Committee as the baseball Coach of the Year. It was his second stint with USA Baseball, having served as an assistant coach with the 1997 USA team. He is only one of two men (Arizona's Jerry Kindall) to both play for and coach an NCAA-championship baseball team. He was the left-fielder for USC's 1961 national-championship squad and coached the 1998 team to the program's 12th title. Gillespie moved to USC from College of the Canyons, where he built the program from scratch. In his 16 seasons at Canyons, Gillespie compiled a 418-165 (.717) record and won 11 Mountain Valley Conference championships, including six consecutive from 1981-86. He captured three state titles and finished as the California runner-up twice. His teams finished with 20 or more wins in 13 years of his tenure, posting 30-plus wins six times. His final squad won 41 games in 1986, the most-ever by a California community college at that time. His term included three California Community College Co-Coach of the Year awards. Gillespie served as Canyon's athletic director from 1977-86 and taught English, physical education and health education. He earned his bachelor's (1962) and master's (1963) degrees from USC. Gillespie and his wife, Barbara, have four children, Kelly, Mitch, Matt and Tiffany and have two grandchildren, Cade and Cole. |
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