Marietta, OH - In the three previous years that Kevin Cooney had taken his Montclair State baseball team to the NCAA Division 3 World Series here, the coach earned a reputation for his quick wit.

Each year at the pre-series banquet, when the coaches are asked to get up and speak about their team, Cooney stole the show with amusing anecdotes about his players.

Cooney was up to his usual stand-up routine before the 1987 World Series began last week, but this time it was the Montclair State players who stole the show.

On Sunday, Montclair (34-14-1) for a two-run homer from LEROY HORN in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 13-12, and win its first Division 3 World Series championships in six trips to Marietta. The Indians became the first team to sweep through the series, at 4-0, since the field was expanded to six teams in 1982.

"I never thought this team would be here," said Cooney, who was still a little puzzled at the post-game celebration about his team's blitz to the championship. "Once we got here, I was scared to death that we were going to be eliminated in two straight. Man for man and position for position, we've brought better teams here, but none had the heart this team had,"

The series finale, which was filled with a sequence of dramatic plays, was a capsule of the entire Montclair State season.

"We really stayed with the script that these kids were writing for themselves," said Cooney, unaware at the time the former Montclair baseball coach and current Director of Athletic Bill Dioguardi had died a the age of 62 hours after the school's greatest triumph."Come from behind, blow it; come from behind, blow it; come from behind and win it."

Horn, know more for his football exploits at tailback, had homered in his first World Series at bat in a 10-8 victory over Eastern Connecticut on Thursday and won the game and the series in his final appearance against Wisconsin-Oshkosh with the two-run shot that erased a 12-11 deficit and set off a wild celebration on the field.

The Indians set a World Series record by cracking six homers in the championship game, and they needed every one. JOHN DEUTSCH, voted the Most Valuable Player in the series, hit two, and JOHN MCCLAIN, KEVIN CAVALLO, JIM FASANO and Horn hit one apiece.

Fasano selected as the All-World Series shortstop for the third straight year, led off the bottom of the ninth with a homer down the right-field line to tie the score at 11-11.

Deutsch kept the rally alive with a one-out single before PEPE HERRERO hit a towing shot to left that looked like it would be a game-winning homer. But Pat McDonald of Oshkosh made a sensational catch to prolong the game.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh took a 12-11 lead in the top of the 10th before MIKE WENRICH walked and Horn connected to complete Montclair's rally and championship season.

Cooney, who has taken his team to the World Series in each of his four years as the head coach, took some calculated risks with his pitching rotation and came out looking like a genius each time.

After winning the first game against Eastern Connecticut, Cooney decided to save his No. 1 starter JEFF VANDEROEF, for the third game and take a chance on starting BRIAN CHESWICK.

Cheswick, who had set a World Series record with 14 strikeouts in a game the year before, had suffered through a season of shoulder problems and inconsistency. The senior left-hander came through with 6 1/3 tough innings against the University of California at San Diego before the Indians won, 9-4 in 11 innings.

"We figured it we lost with Cheswick, we would have our No. 1 pitcher to avoid elimination," said Cooney. "If we won, we had him pitching with a chance to go 3-0 and reach the championship game."

The way Cooney managed the series paid off in the championship game with Horn at the plate and pinch-runner JOHN LIPINSKI at first.

"I was thinking f our options and I knew we couldn't bunt because Leroy isn't a good bunter," said Cooney. "I also didn't want to hit-and run because Leroy swings and misses a lot. So I pulled him over and tole him to get a hold of one he could hit out."

WAYNE MASTERS, a sophomore from West Caldwell, was another player who made Cooney look good. The right-hander won the first two games in relief and threw just three pitches, including a double-play ball in the top of the 10th, to win the championship game and set a series record with three victories.

Deutsch, a 6-6, 235-pound sophomore, hit .526 in the series going 10 for 19 with eight runs scored, three homers and 10 RBI. He set Montclair State records with 22 homers and 77 RBI and his career homers tied the mark set by Steve Lipinski in four years.

The Indians pulled off nine double-plays in the four games, picked three runners off base, two by Cheswick.

Voted to the All-World Series team from Montclair were outfielder Deutsch, first baseman Herrero, second baseman Cavallo, shortstop Fasano and Masters.