Maui's Viloria is the 'other' Hawai'i pitcher in CWS

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

In his favorite dream, Maui High grad Brandon Viloria is the last pitcher standing at the College World Series.

Maui's Brandon Viloria joined Notre Dame baseball team as a walk-on.

Viloria is the "other" pitcher from Hawai'i in college baseball's championship tournament, which runs today through June 22 in Omaha, Neb. His name is much less known than two-time All-American Shane Komine of Kalani High, who will start for Nebraska today against Clemson (1 p.m. on ESPN2).

Komine has won 41 games in his career at Nebraska; Viloria has won five for Notre Dame. But Viloria could be equally important to his team in the College World Series.

Viloria is a late-inning, "short" reliever, known in baseball vernacular as a "set-up man."

It is the duty of the set-up man to protect his team's lead or keep the opponents from adding to their lead. He rarely pitches more than two innings before giving way to a "closer" to finish the game.

Viloria has filled that role almost perfectly for Notre Dame. His earned run average of 2.45 is second best for the Irish this year. In 16 appearances (22 innings), he has won two games and saved three, including a season-turning victory over Southern California.

"That was a huge game for us, against a very dominant program," said Viloria, who induced a double-play in the eighth and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth against the powerful Trojans.

He's "Mr. Control"

The prime requisite of a relief pitcher is throwing strikes and at Notre Dame, they call Viloria "Mr. Control." With a year to go, he is on pace to break the school record for least walks allowed (his average is 1.63 walks per nine innings). And he has not thrown a wild pitch in three years.

Opposing teams have a paltry .203 batting average against him.

"I'm not a dominating pitcher," Viloria told The Advertiser in a telephone interview from Omaha yesterday. "I pitch to spots — according to the situation. I go out and throw strikes and let them hit the ball. I don't worry because our defense is awesome."

Because a set-up man never knows when he might be called to pitch, "you have to be ready at any point in the game," Viloria said. "You have to make sure your body is ready to play every day, and your mentality, too. For me, when it gets around the sixth inning, I start to get mentally and physically prepared."

He was not called upon at all in last weekend's Super Regional, when Notre Dame upset Florida State to earn its first trip to the CWS in 45 years. But in the regional championship game on June 2, he pitched a critical, scoreless seventh inning, again making use of the double-play defense.

The CWS, Viloria says, is his biggest thrill in baseball, by far. "It's like when you wake up on Christmas morning after so much anticipation, like a dream come true," he said.

An experience like this was the farthest thing from Viloria's mind when he graduated from Maui High in 1999. "I went to Notre Dame for (engineering) school," he said. "I had no real intention of playing there. I figured high school was the end."

Making the team

When a four-day walk-on tryout (for non-scholarship players) was announced that fall. "My roomie and some other kids in dorm said, 'Let's go try out' so we did.

"I made the first cut. They said they really liked my control, my loose motion, and the way the ball would jump on hitters.

"(Head coach Paul Mainieri) said. 'We think you could contribute. Would you like to be on the team?'

"I ran back to my dorm and called my mom in Wailuku. "I told her, 'You're not going to believe this!'

"From there it's been awesome. I never expected any of this."

Viloria is still not receiving an athletic scholarship. NCAA Division I baseball teams are allowed only 11.7 full scholarships, which they can divide among players.

"I get a few (academic) grants that cover about half my costs," he said. He's an electrical engineering major in the College of Engineering with a 3.63 (A-minus) grade-point average.

Viloria may or may not be called upon during the CWS. He is No. 2 among Notre Dame's short relievers.

"Any opportunity just to be out there and to contribute to team's success would be great," he said, and added, "Shutting the door, or being on the mound when it's done — that would be a dream."

Notre Dame, playing in the CWS for the first time since 1957, opens tomorrow against Stanford (7:30 a.m. on CBS).

A Viloria-Komine College World Series face-off could only happen if Notre Dame and Nebraska reach the championship game on June 22 because they are in opposite brackets.

"I think we met once," Viloria said. "Hopefully I can meet up with Shane and talk with him. But, oh man, I don't want to pitch against him."