Larsen commits to Cal State Fullerton
Corona del Mar High pitcher Evan Larsen, the Daily Pilot Dream Team Player of the Year, verbally committed to play baseball for Cal State Fullerton, he told the Daily Pilot on Monday.
Larsen, who will be a senior in the fall, turned in a remarkable junior season for the Sea Kings.
He earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 3 honors and was also named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year.
He led CdM to a runner-up finish in the Pacific Coast League. He compiled a 9-4 record with a 1.20 earned-run average.
He threw eight complete games, five for shutouts, as he struck out 63 in 81 1/3 innings. He walked only 17.
“Without the hard work the talent will go nowhere, he’s an example of that,” CdM Coach John Emme said. “He’s reaped the rewards because he’s worked so hard. We knew he had the talent. His work ethic is unbelievable. I’m not surprised at all that he’s gotten the opportunity to play at Cal State Fullerton.”
Larsen said he will be thrilled to join the Titans after his senior year.
“It’s very relieving to know where I’m going to college before the start of my senior year,” Larsen said in a text. “That way I can focus on baseball and school work and not worry about where I’m going to school because it wasn’t an easy process, and took longer than expected but in the end I know I made the right decision and am excited to become a Titan.”
The Titans went 39-25 in 2015 and went to the NCAA College World Series for the 17th time in program history and the first time since 2009, ending Fullerton’s five-year drought without a trip to Omaha, the longest in school history.
Cal State Fullerton’s rich history was one of the reasons Larsen wanted to become a Titan.
“I chose Fullerton for multiple reasons, one being the comfort with the coaching staff which is big,” Larsen said. “I have known the pitching coach Jason Dietrich for about a year and feel that we have had a great relationship and communicate well. The program has had a history of great pitchers and I feel that I have the opportunity to be one of them in the future and the way that pitchers have come into the program and gotten drafted is another thing that was appealing to me, and Coach Dietrich playing a great role in that. The biggest reason to me is the opportunity to win a national championship. They made it to the CWS this year and I feel they give me the best chance at that national championship and they are a tremendous team that grinds it out until the end. The competition is great, they play the nation’s best teams and they play well against the best.”