Novy Quietly Leads Cypress Toward Title

He is calm and unassuming, California-laid back with a beard and wire-rim glasses.

But right now in the baseball savvy community of Cypress, life-long Little League stalwart Greg Novy is the closest thing to an icon the city has.

Novy, manager of the Cypress Federal Little League All-Stars, has his team two victories away from becoming the first Orange County group to return to the Little League World Series. Cypress, which also qualified in 1990, can move a step closer to Williamsport, Pa., tonight at the Western Regional Tournament in San Bernardino with a victory over Murrayhill of Beaverton, Ore.

Novy, who does not have a son on the Cypress team, has guided the Federals to a 15-0 record.

“He has a way of pulling championships out. He has this silver lining that follows him everywhere,” said Kevin Wesley, manager of the Federal Dodgers and a Novy rival during regular season. His son, Wesley, is the first baseman for the all-stars.

“I have watched Greg very closely over the years and he always seems to do the right thing,” Kevin Wesley said. “He knows baseball and he has won the respect of the kids.”

That might not otherwise be easy for a quiet guy in Cypress, a hot-bed for travel ball teams. Kevin Wesley, for instance, plans to start a traveling team this winter. Former Cypress College standout Rudy Lara, whose son Nathan, hit a pinch-hit home run in the top of the sixth inning of a 3-1 victory over Eastdale of Albuquerque Friday, manages several area age-group teams. Nine of the Federals play year-round baseball, according to league officials.

All that competition had the potential to divide players’ time. Novy told the boys selected to the Federal all-star team at their first meeting in late June, that he wouldn’t tolerate double dipping during Little League play.

“I told them that there are other kids in this league who can play,” Novy said. “And if any of these guys weren’t going to give me their full attention, then I would bring up the other kids who will and I will give them a chance to play.”

The issue was silenced and the team marched into the Western Regional, outscoring its first 12 opponents, 115-20. The team it beat to advance to the Western Regional, Vineyard Little League of Rancho Cucamonga, was without four of its better players in the divisional final because they skipped the game to play in a travel-ball tournament. The Federals won, 11-1, and Novy points to the result of that game as the reason he set down the law before all-star play began.

“He and the two other coaches, Mark Campbell and Dave Koscielak, since the very first meeting we had, have been very dedicated and committed to this team,” said Cypress Federal President Bob Hook. “They’ve done a fine job bringing the team along well and it has jelled.”

Novy, an engineer at Boeing in Huntington Beach, has been a figure at Cypress Federal Little League at Oak Knoll Park on Orange Avenue for 30 years. He was a player in the league from 1968-72, and later attended Cypress High and Long Beach State. He helped out as a coach for a younger brother’s team in the late 1970s and also has volunteered in softball leagues.

A father of four boys, Novy, 38, has coached or managed the last 12 seasons, but the fact that he doesn’t have a child or relative on this year’s team has been a big plus, according to players, parents and league officials.

“Maybe if he had a son on the team we would look at him different,” said left fielder Eric Koscielak. “But we don’t. He is fair and if you practice hard, you are going to play.”

Novy’s son Brandon is 13 and a year too old to play. Jacob, 10, played on Novy’s team that won the league title but was too young to be chosen to the all-star team.

“He’s not that emotional of a guy,” Zach Wesley said. “When you hit a home run or something, he doesn’t exactly jump up and down. In practice he is very calm, but very strong. He’s not yelling, but he’s the kind of guy that can get us going.”

Last Sunday the team was allowed to leave the steamy Western Regional complex for several hours to return to the much cooler Oak Knoll Park for practice and a barbecue with family and friends, before returning to their San Bernardino bunk house by nightfall.

Novy chewed sunflower seeds and never raised his voice as he ran the team through spirited paces with encouraging words such as “good listening,” “looking sharp” and “good job.”

After more than two hours, Novy brought the team together and spoke softly about the tough week ahead.

“This is better than being a loud-mouth,” he said later. “You don’t need to be loud to be effective.”