Titus Becomes Ottawa Univeristy's All-time Wins Leader

Braves Baseball Wins 2006 KCAC Championship

Ottawa University's 12th year head baseball coach Jarrod Titus is having a season that he will never forget. On Monday, May 1, the Braves Baseball team won their 6 th Kansas Collegiate Athletics Conference (KCAC) Championship and will advance to their 7 th National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Region IV appearance in Hutchinson, Kansas May 10-13, under Titus. On Saturday, March 1, Titus became OU's all-time wins leader for all coaches in school history at Alumni Park on the campus of OU, with a 5-3 win in game one over Waldrof College located in Forest City, Iowa. Titus currently with 289 wins surpassed OU legendary basketball coach from 1955-1978, William "Bill" Frear, who had 269 wins in his 23 year coaching career at OU.

Titus realized at the end of the 2005 season that the milestone was within reach. "It was never a goal of mine," said Titus. "It's a pretty neat deal. It's neat that our guys can do that and be a part of something special. The wins show what we have been doing with the program. You don't win that many games without doing something right."

Coach Titus has built quite a resume in his 12 years at the helm of Ottawa Baseball with: 6 KCAC Championships, 7 NAIA Region IV Appearances, 14 NAIA All-Americans, 16 NAIA All-Region IV Performers, 89 KCAC All-Conference Performers, 6 KCAC Players of the Year, 2 NAIA Region IV Players of the Year, 6 KCAC Coach of the Year honors, 1 NAIA Region IV Coach of the Year honor and now the University's all time winning coach. With all the success and individual accolades Titus has always remained modest. "It's bitter sweat," said Titus when asked about being OU's all-time wins leader. "The credit goes to my assistant coaches and the men that have played here. I have huge respect for Coach Frear and what he was able to accomplish with his basketball program. He will always remain a legend here at OU."

Titus also felt the there were many others that helped endure such a successful career at OU. "I like to give thanks to Andy Carrier (OU's Director of Athletics at the time of hire) for taking a chance on me 12 years ago," said Titus. "I was young, but so eager to build my own program."

"I also like to give special thanks to my family for allowing me the time it takes to be successful," said Titus. "Without their support none of this would have been possible." Jarrod and his wife Kendra, have two children Riley (3) and Jake (1).

Titus displayed his gratitude by giving the wins record tying game ball to his one year old son Jake, who returned the appreciation by attempting to eat the ball. The 270 th win game ball went to Titus' father Francis "Coach" Titus, who has showed his support by attending every game possible.

The Braves who were favored in the KCAC preseason coaches' polls to be crowned champions lived up to the expectations. "I didn't really know what to expect," said Titus. "I felt they had the right attitude and mental toughness to get the job done. As a coaching staff we can put them in the physical state, but not mental. These guys were tough kids and they had their heads in the right place."

Despite the success and winning games, the Braves did face some adversity midseason through conference play taking some tough and close losses from conference opponents Friends University located in Wichita , Kansas and University of Saint Mary located in Leavenworth , Kansas . "We were not ready to play during that stretch," said Titus. "We were not prepared to play and did not show up. We were pressing and wanted to win too badly. Even when we started playing well again, we continued pressing the whole second half of conference play."

The Braves did continue to press on; even after two more losses to Friends University they persevered. "They believed in each other," said Titus. "They believed in our plan and remained focused." Titus and assistant coach Matt Reed, in his 4 th year with the Braves program, did have to alter their plan somewhat during the season with the line up. "There is two things when it comes to preparing the line up and that is one, go with your gut feeling and two, go with the numbers," said Titus. "From the start I went with my gut feeling, but looking at the numbers I felt we had to make a change, sometimes change is good, in the this situation it was and it worked."

With the 2006 KCAC Championship in hand, Titus still felt that more could have been accomplished. "I would not have change much about this season, I just wished the guys would have given a little more," said Titus. "It's all about pushing the right buttons and I felt I did that. We had great senior leadership, some that played and some that didn't. Those who did play a lot played well and lead well. They have been there before and it showed. And for those who didn't play a lot, lead well in some many other ways, which I was grateful for." The last KCAC Championship for the Braves was in 2003, going an impressive 22-2.

Next for Titus and the Braves is to make it out of the NAIA Region IV Tournament. "It's a goal of ours," said Titus. "It's winnable. We are not just happy to be there. We do believe we can win it."

The 3rd seeded OU Braves will face the 4th seeded Bethany College Swedes in the first round of the NAIA Region IV Tournament at Hobart Detter Field in Huthcinson, KS on May 10, 2006 at 6:00p.m.