Prep Wrapup : Miraleste’s Turnaround Continues With 8-5 Win

It’s been 10 years since Miraleste fielded what was arguably the best baseball team in the school’s history.

The 1979 Marauders featured a star-studded lineup that included three future professional players (second baseman Joe Redfield and pitchers Matt Dorin and Mark Delatorre), a sophomore who became a four-year starter for Harvard University (first baseman Chris Schindler) and an All-CIF shortstop (Chris Herpin).

With that kind of talent, winning became a habit. The Marauders tied Leuzinger for the Pioneer League title and reached the semifinals of the Southern Section 2-A playoffs.

If the 1979 team represents the zenith of Miraleste baseball, what followed in the 1980s might best be decribed as the dark ages.

The Marauders remained competitive for a few more seasons, but when Tom Graves stepped down in 1983 after coaching the team for 14 years, the program went into a tailspin. Four years and two coaches later, Miraleste had become an embarrassment, finishing the 1987 season with a 2-19 record.

Enter Ken Russell.

A successful coach for more than two decades at Palos Verdes, Russell walked into a situation last season at Miraleste that was different than anything he had encountered. He had a bad team. And he blamed himself for its failures.

When the Marauders opened the 1988 season with a poor showing in the El Segundo Tournament, including a 20-0 loss to Crespi, Russell wondered if he was capable of coaching varsity baseball.

“At the beginning of last year, I had a lot of doubts if I was doing the right thing,” he said. “A lot of times I went home and lost confidence.”

But things did get better for the man who coached Palos Verdes’ junior varsity to 16 league titles in 17 years. Miraleste gradually improved, finishing with an 11-13 record and contending for a playoff berth from the Pioneer League until the last game.

The rebirth has carried over into this season.

Friday, the Marauders improved to 10-5 overall and 4-0 in the Santa Fe League with an 8-5 win over visiting Pater Noster. They are headed for what could be a league showdown with Mary Star (11-4, 3-0) at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Fromhold Field in San Pedro.

How big a role has Russell played in the turnaround?

“I think he’s done a great job,” said Graves, the former coach who is Miraleste’s athletic director. “He’s a disciplined guy who gets a lot out of ordinary players. The kids like him because of that. And he knows the game and teaches it well.”

Granted, Miraleste benefited by moving to a less competitive league this year. Russell hesitates to say whether the Marauders could be contenders in the Bay or Ocean leagues. But judging by two of their non-league scores, it is a possibility. They handed the Ocean League’s second-place team, Mira Costa, a 12-0 defeat earlier this season and lost an 8-7 decision to Bay League contender Leuzinger last weekend.

Russell says getting the players to believe they could win was one of the biggest hurdles he faced.

“I think there’s been a big turnaround in the attitudes and work habits of the players,” he said. “Toward the end of the last year the players learned how to win. At the beginning of the year, they really didn’t know how to win. They’ve come a long way.”

Pitching is perhaps the area where Miraleste has improved the most in the last year and a half. In their first five games of 1988, the Marauders gave up 64 runs.

“There was just nothing there,” Graves said. “No arms, no nothing. They’d go out there and get hammered.”

Now Russell considers his young pitching staff one of the team’s strengths. Junior left-hander Chris Hubbard improved his record to 5-0 Friday by throwing a complete game against Pater Noster, junior right-hander Jason Mavar brought a 4-2 mark into Saturday’s game with Redondo and sophomore right-hander Mike Ryan is 2-0.

Ryan, an infielder whose father, Willie, was an All-American first baseman at USC, is one of several excellent sophomores in the program, Russell said. Second baseman and lead-off hitter Paul Lemire is another.

Chad Somers is Miraleste’s senior leader. The heavy-hitting first baseman and Ryan each belted three-run homers Friday. Somers’ six home runs and 25 RBIs lead the South Bay and his .476 average (25 for 51) is among the best in the area. Over the last two seasons, he has 17 homers and 66 RBIs.

Russell says it’s a team he enjoys working with but one he wishes he could see more often. Because he is a teacher at Palos Verdes, his only contact with the Miraleste players is during games and practices.

“That’s probably the toughest part of my job,” he said. “Feeling like a walk-on coach, like a guest.”

On the bright side, Russell said Miraleste administrators and teachers have gone out of their way to make him feel welcome.

He appreciates that. And he appreciates the way his players have worked to improve and ease his doubts.

“It’s coming along.” he said. “We’ve progressed as the season has gone along, and that’s what I look for. I want the second half of the season to be better than the first half.”

Ten years later, Miraleste is making another move for the top.

The leaders in the Bay League baseball race will play a two-game series this week.

First-place Rolling Hills (5-1) plays host to second-place Hawthorne (4-2) on Tuesday, with the teams switching sites Thursday. Both games start at 3.

Rolling Hills is coming off a two-game sweep over last-place Inglewood, while Hawthorne split a pair of 5-4 decisions with Santa Monica. Hawthorne right-hander Steven Keith improved his record to 6-0 in Thursday’s win.

In the Ocean League, Culver City (6-0) has established itself as the team to beat. The Centaurs hammered second-place Mira Costa (5-1), 10-0, Tuesday and will complete the first half of league play Wednesday at West Torrance.

Culver City’s top player, outfielder Todd Steverson, signed a letter of intent with Arizona State this week. He is also considered one of Southern California’s top pro prospects.

Mary Star extended its winning streak to eight games Friday with an 11-0 Santa Fe League triumph over Cathedral at Fromhold Field. Pitcher Rick Ibarra, who lost a no-hit bid with one out in the sixth inning, finished with a three-hitter and 12 strikeouts.

It was Ibarra’s second straight impressive outing. Last week, he hurled a four-hitter in a 3-0 league win over Cantwell.