After one of the most frustrating losses of the season Sunday at Cal State Northridge, the University of Hawaii baseball team remains on the road for another week.

But today’s stand-alone non-conference game at Loyola Marymount is somewhat of a homecoming for one member of the Rainbow Warriors travel party.

UH played at LMU last year, but this time it will be a little more special for Rainbows assistant coach Carl Fraticelli. In 1986, he was the starting shortstop for the best team in LMU baseball history — a group that also affected the history of the program he now works for.

“This year makes 30 years since our trip to the College World Series,” he said. “Some of those teammates plan on coming out to our game on Monday.”

Fraticelli is the best baseball player I’ve seen who was not drafted out of high school. He probably went unselected because he was short and did not hit with power was not exceptionally fast. But he was incredibly consistent, both with the bat and glove, and was a quiet leader for a very good Kalaheo team.

UH recruited him but he chose Loyola Marymount. “It was a combination of being able to go in and make an immediate impact and a good academic fit,” Fraticelli said. “They won just 22 games the year before, and had some holes to fill. I started out as a computer science major and liked their program.”

The coach who recruited him, Marv Wood, was replaced by the up-and-coming Dave Snow the summer before Fraticelli arrived on campus.

“I had to fight through in the fall and prove that I belonged. Our team manager, another freshman named Bill Ferrari, believed in me and convinced me to stay,” he said.

It worked out fine for Fraticelli, who started all four seasons at shortstop or second base and remains all over the LMU and West Coast Athletic Conference record books.

The 10-6 and 12-5 back-to-the wall 1986 NCAA regional wins against UH that broke the hearts of the ‘Bows are right at the top of his college memories list. Hawaii had knocked off UCLA and UCSB and needed to beat LMU just once to get back to the CWS after nearly winning it all in 1980. Instead, the Lions went for the first time.

“Anytime you’re playing your home state you especially want to do well. And with the College World Series on the line, even more,” said Fraticelli, who set the tone in the second game with a leadoff double.

When they got to Omaha, the Lions beat LSU 4-3 in the series opener when Joey (later known as Albert) Belle lost a flyball in the sun. But LMU was then ousted with losses to eventual champion Arizona and Oklahoma State (led by freshman Robin Ventura, who would author the still-standing NCAA Division I record 58-game hitting streak in 1987).

“That was a magical year for us,” said Fraticelli, who led the Lions into the Midwest Regional two years later. But LMU’s season was again ended by Oklahoma State (which happens to be the alma mater of his current boss, UH head coach Mike Trapasso).

“The success we had during my four years at LMU changed my life in many ways,” Fraticelli said. “I use the knowledge I acquired during that time in my coaching. I was extremely fortunate to play for coaches like Dave Snow and Chris Smith. Huge influences in my life.”

Fraticelli finally got drafted, in the 19th round by the Twins. But he played just parts of three seasons before knee and shoulder injuries ended his career.

After some time selling sporting goods in San Diego, he moved to Kauai where his mother’s side of the family is from and taught and coached at Waimea High — which, in yet another strange twist was the school that knocked highly-ranked Kalaheo out of the state tournament Fraticelli’s senior year.

A few college coaching and pro scouting jobs later, Fraticelli was working at Mid-Pacific Institute, right next to UH.

“Kind of an athletic manager, not on the baseball staff,” said Dunn Muramaru, MPI’s longtime baseball coach. “But I’d bounce stuff off of him all the time. He’s a very good baseball guy.”

He started as a volunteer coach at UH in 2011, using his lunch break from his day job to throw batting practice.

“Mid-Pacific was great about allowing me flexibility,” he said. “It was a grind, but it was worth it to be back in baseball.”

When a full-time spot opened in 2013, Trapasso asked him to consider it. Fraticelli is now the UH hitting coach and also works with the outfielders and some recruiting duties.

“He’s a great guy and a great baseball guy as well,” Trapasso said. “A true grinder. Always putting the players’ interest first.”

And so it goes. Carl Fraticelli, who beat the Rainbows as a Lion 30 years ago, will try to do the opposite today.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.