TITLE TOWN.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - They came from McMinnville and Philomath, from Central Point and Ontario, from Redmond and Ashland, from Lake Oswego and Newberg - Oregon's scrappy baseball players who took the fight to the big dogs and came home triumphant on Tuesday.

And fans swarmed out to welcome them, giddy with pride that the Oregon State University baseball team returned from Omaha, Neb., undisputed kings of the College World Series, best in the Pac-10, best in the nation. Thousands of orange-clad "Beaver believers" packed Pioneer Square in Portland at noon. And when the team pulled up in a couple of stretch Humvee limousines and a bus at Parker Plaza between Reser Stadium and Gill Coliseum at 3 p.m., a roar rippled through that 4,000-strong throng so loud that it drowned out the amplified marching band.

"OSU! OSU! OSU!"

The underdog, come-from-behind team in a sport that takes a backseat to football and basketball had its moment in the sun. Many of the fans who welcomed them home confessed they're more apt to follow first downs and three-pointers than home runs and double plays.

Corvallis residents Mel and Delores Rawie, who came out with their daughter Tonya, visiting from Brookings, began watching the team only this year, attracted by their skill and sportsmanship.

"They play so well together, " Delores Rawie said.

The family was glued to the tube Monday night and erupted when the team beat the University of North Carolina, 3-2, to win the best-of-three championship series two games to one. The win was made sweeter by how hard the Beavers had to fight to get it. After losing their first game at the series, they battled back through six must-win games for the national title.

"We were screaming so loud, we scared the cat," Tonya Rawie said.

Corvallis resident John Hawkins brought his 13-year-old niece to the rally. "We don't get a national championship every year," he said. "And it's not just that, it's how they did it."

The fact that 60 percent of the team comes from Oregon communities, with a complement from other Northwest states, was all part of the thrill for fans such as Hawkins.

His niece, Marissa Poling, a 13-year-old basketball player who dreams of competing at the college level, said she particularly enjoyed watching pitcher Dallas Buck, shortstop Darwin Barney and second baseman Chris Kunda. Buck was great against Rice, Poling said, Barney proved himself with double plays and Kunda was just an all-around good defensive player, she said. "But, really, I like the whole team," she said.

In front of their hometown fans, the players seemed a little dazed by all of the attention as Beavers coach Pat Casey put the experience in context.

"It's hard to sit here and believe this all happened," he said. After last year's early exit from the College World Series, he told the team they would return, not just to play but to win.

"On opening night, just the guys behind me, we were the only ones who believed it," Casey said, gesturing at his players. "I just can't tell you how proud I am of these guys."

The coach also had generous words for the orange-clad people braving the afternoon heat.

"You guys have the No. 1 baseball team in America. They have the No. 1 fans in America," he said. "I can't imagine what it was like last night on Monroe (Street). You guys must have torn it down."

A handful of the team's key players also spoke.

"We're just going to be glowing for the rest of the summer," catcher Mitch Canham said about the thrill of the win. When the dog pile converged on him at the end of the game, he found himself at the bottom, his face mashed into the dirt. `I said, `This is so cool!' '

But perhaps pitcher Kevin Gunderson best summed up the savory taste of this particular victory: "Every critic in the nation picked us to lose every single game. And here we are."

It's an experience fan Mel Rowie said he won't soon forget. "It's a great day to be a Beaver and it's a great day to be an Oregonian," he said.