HAPPINESS IS BRUIN A SUB-PAR SENIOR YEAR AT ECR DASHED GABE COHEN'S DREAMS OF BEING TAKEN EARLY IN LAST YEAR'S MLB DRAFT. IT TURNED OUT TO BE A BLESSING IN DISGUISE FOR HIM - AND SPECIALLY UCLA.

Byline: HEATHER GRIPP

Staff Writer

The UCLA baseball team is glad Gabe Cohen didn't have a season like this last year.

If he had, Cohen might not have ended up playing for the Bruins.

After failing to live up to lofty expectations that had made him a candidate for last year's MLB draft, Cohen enrolled at UCLA, where the El Camino Real High of Woodland Hills graduate is the Bruins' leading hitter and the Pacific-10 Conference Co-Newcomer of the Year.

Cohen is hitting .357 with 10home runs and 33 RBIs.

The freshman outfielder's next challenge is to try to help UCLA advance past the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2000. The Bruins open the postseason today against Pepperdine as the

No. 2 seed in the four-team, double-elimination Long Beach Regional.

"Last year, I felt I had to perform for my future and those expectations that were on me," Cohen said. "This year all I was concerned about was my team, I wasn't trying to do too much. If I had a bad game, I'm only a freshman, it's not the end of the world."

Cohen hit .341 with fourhome runs and 30 RBIs as a high school senior. It was hardly a bad season, but not close to par for someone who had spent the previous summer impressing scouts at various national showcases and earned All-America honors.

He had transferred from Harvard-Westlake of Studio City to traditional baseball power ECR and was viewed as a key piece in the Conquistadores' quest to defend their City Section title.

"I think he put a lot of pressure on himself his senior year," UCLA coach John Savage said. "He tried to do too much. He was at a new school, and I think the major league draft was hovering over him. ... We certainly anticipated the likelihood of the draft taking him away from us. But with him putting so much pressure on himself, he fell out of the draft."

Cohen says he is no longer disappointed about not being drafted and is pleased to be playing for his parents' alma mater.

"I definitely looked at playing professionally," Cohen said. "Probably a little too much. I'm sure thoughts of the draft probably got in my way. That's every kid's dream, to be a major-leaguer. But I'm also very academic and wanted to go to college. I'm really glad I came here."

Bruins coaches made a few adjustments to Cohen's swing, which he says has helped, but one of the biggest differences, Cohen says, is spending hours before games practicing hitting.

Described as one of the team's hardest workers, Cohen is often at the field working out as early as fivehours before a game.

"He's something else," sophomore teammate Cody Decker said. "Him having a great year shows how hard he works. He totally deserves it.

"He's just a great player and an even better guy. We've trained together for a few years and I'm happy he ended up here."

Cohen made his first start three games into the season and went 3 for 4, including a grand slam, with five RBIs in a victory over Winthrop. Within two weeks, he'd become a regular in the starting lineup.

"We knew he had tremendous ability," Savage said. "He's a great athlete and we'd seen what he could do. We just didn't anticipate him maturing this quickly as a hitter. He has tremendous hands.

"The guy has just really arrived as a hitter quicker than we thought. He's done it against a great schedule and quality pitching all year."

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) UCLA's Gabe Cohen is hitting .357 with 10HRs and 33 RBIs.

Photos courtesy of UCLA

Box:

LONG BEACH REGIONAL