NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Matt Curtis stood before the 90 or so attendants of the Falcons Summer Baseball Camp at Stengel Field on Thursday morning and drew some oohs and aahs from his audience when sharing stories about traveling around the country with a collegiate baseball program and celebrating in a dog pile on the mound after winning a championship, all while flashing his College World Series ring.
Curtis brought a voice of authority on the subject for the young campers in attendance hoping to someday play college baseball, as the La Crescenta resident just completed his first season as head baseball coach at Cal State University Northridge after spending 10 seasons as an assistant with the highly successful Fresno State program.
"It was a tough first year. I kind of expected that with just the timing of getting a job the week before school started and getting a staff put together," said Curtis, who was hired in August to replace former Matadors Coach Steve Rousey, also a longtime La Crescenta resident. "We felt like we were playing catch-up the whole year, but it was exciting and it was a lot of fun just kind of getting our system established and getting the pieces in place."
