Getting a Little Out of Control : Capistrano Valley Pitcher Brett August Has Family Tradition on His Side, but First, He’s Just Trying to Throw Strikes

Unlike most teen-agers, Brett August has trouble finding the plate.

No, not the dinner plate--his 6-foot 2-inch, 200-pound frame is ample testimony that the gums of August are just fine.

Rather, the plate that August has had trouble with is the five-sided one, where the first and third baselines meet at the Capistrano Valley High School baseball diamond.

August is a senior pitcher for the Cougars, and if the name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the younger brother of former Capistrano Valley, Chapman College and 1984 Olympic baseball team pitcher Don August, now with Tucson of the Pacific Coast League after being drafted by the Houston Astros.

Unlike many athletes who have more famous siblings, being the younger brother of Don August has been the least of Brett August’s worries.

“People make comparisons, but it’s never been a problem for me,” August said in a recent interview. “I talk to Don on the phone all the time. He tells me what I should be working on.”

What the younger August should be working on is control, something that has been a problem throughout his career. Don August made his reputation on control, but Brett August is still searching for his mark.

Capistrano Valley Coach Bob Zamora said, “They’re two distinct individuals with different mental approaches to the game. Don liked to set up hitters a certain way, and Brett does it a little differently.

“Brett pitched well last winter for a New York Mets scouting team against junior college and four-year players, but what happened there is that the JC batters would swing at anything trying to make contact to impress their coaches.

“In high school, hitters are usually more timid. They look for something right over the plate.”

Zamora said that August has found the outside pitches he threw in winter ball--the ones that the JC batters would swing at--are being taken for balls by August’s current high school rivals. Consequently, August has had to come in with his pitches closer to the strike zone.

August is getting consistent game experience only now in his senior year because for the last two seasons, he’s had to sit behind Capistrano Valley pitchers Bill Dodd and Tom Gates, two of the best pitchers in the school’s history.

“For most of the other teams around, I think Brett would’ve been a three-year starter,” Zamora noted.

As a sophomore, August made one varsity appearance and won it. As a junior, he went 3-0. Currently, August is 3-2 and is part of the Cougars’ current three-man starting rotation.

He is emerging as one of the brighter notes in what has been an inconsistent season for the Cougars (8-7 overall and 1-3 in league).

August and his brothers--besides Don, there is Lance, a pitcher on the Capistrano Valley junior varsity and Steve, a Little Leaguer--grew up in Lawndale and would have attended Leuzinger had the family stayed there.

“I knew three of the guys in their starting lineup,” August said, “so it meant a lot to do well against them. They remembered me, too.”

If there is a similarity in pitching between the Augusts, it would be that they get stronger as the game goes on, according to Zamora.

Capistrano Valley is hoping that August also gets stronger as the season goes on. If he does, he could find himself at Fresno State, which has expressed an interest in the pitcher’s burgeoning talent.

August has all the ingredients that both colleges and major league teams like to see in a high school pitcher--big, strong, not much arm trouble, good student and easy to coach.

Whether August can put those ingredients together to become a bona fide pro prospect depends largely on two things--the South Coast League’s bats and August’s arm.