THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Casey, No Longer at the Bat, Tells Story

Awards were being handed out after Thursday’s City 4-A championship baseball game at Dodger Stadium, and losing pitcher Sean Casey of Granada Hills was busy tearing away tape that was wrapped around his right shoe.

When his name was called, Casey didn’t look back at the tape strewn along the first-base line. And as he accepted a runner-up trophy, he allowed himself a smile.

Sure, he’d given up four runs in 3 innings and gone 0 for 3 in the Highlanders’ 5-1 loss to Grant. But about 3,000 Granada Hills fans cheered as an official handed Casey the award.

The 17-year-old senior was surrounded by friends and, clearly, friendship was more important to him than victory.

When you believe you’ve been betrayed in the past, loyalty has a way of climbing to the top of your list of values.

In January, Casey transferred to Granada Hills from Alemany, his school of 2 1/2 years, after a series of unpleasant incidents that could have happened to any high school student. When they happened to Sean Casey, however, he walked away, leaving the memories behind like so many strands of torn tape.

Casey had refused to give all the details of why he left Alemany, but during emotional aftermath of the final, he told what he said was the whole story.

“I was going out with some girl,” said Casey, who was quarterback on Alemany’s football team and an outfielder on the baseball team. “After we went our separate ways, her and her friends tried to make my life miserable.”

The door of Casey’s truck was smashed the night of Alemany’s Oct. 4 football game against Pius X. Then his father’s car was vandalized on Christmas Eve.

The final slap in the face was literal. Enrique Lopez, the Alemany football coach, broke up a scuffle between Casey and another student in a physical education class and hit Casey.

“Tempers flared and something unfortunate happened,” Casey said at the time. “I respect Coach Lopez and I know what he did was in the heat of the moment, but it was pretty much the last straw.”

Casey lives in the Granada Hills’ attendance area and a transfer from Alemany, a Southern Section private school, was quickly arranged.

“There was no harassment to my face,” said Casey, who is 6-3 and 200 pounds. “People knew I wouldn’t fight on campus because I’d be kicked out of school. Fighting is not the way to go, so I went quietly.”

Alemany baseball coach Jim Ozella believes Casey went too quietly. Although Ozella coached him for two seasons, Casey never told the coach he was leaving Alemany.

“That bothers me a lot,” Ozella said. “Somebody should be able to say, ‘I’m leaving, I’m sorry,’ after putting in two years of work together. I understand in a way. He’s a high school kid and it was a tough situation.”

Casey admits that he didn’t tell Ozella of his plans and said he hopes the coach doesn’t take it personally.

“We were close and he’s a great coach,” Casey said. “I thought he would talk me out of transfering. I just wanted to get it done.”

His new school became a sanctuary for Casey. Many players on the baseball team had been his childhood friends and, immediately, the big guy of Irish descent felt at home in the green of Granada Hills.

The Highlanders had an experienced and powerful lineup but was short on pitching until Casey arrived. Although he had never won a varsity game before this season, Casey had an 11-5 pitching record. He also batted .440 from the clean-up spot.

“Essentially, Sean was the pitcher who carried the load,” Granada Hills Coach Darryl Stroh said.

“He is a good, not great, pitcher. He’s best described as a really good all-around player. As a pitcher, he’s the type who drives a coach into his grave. He gets behind on counts and runs counts full. But he seems to be able to come up with the big pitch.”

Casey, a hard thrower who has never developed an effective off-speed pitch, won all three playoff games before the final. But a combination of fatigue from overwork and strep throat diminished his effectiveness against Grant. Before the game, Casey’s father, Michael, said his son had been on medication for three days.

“Physically, he’s not 100%,” Michael Casey said. “But emotionally, he’s on a big high. He won’t talk about being sick. He doesn’t want to let anyone down.”

And no wonder. Strep throat wasn’t going to stop Casey from putting forth his best effort, not when a few thousand Granada Hills’ fans were shouting themselves hoarse in his support.

But Grant pitcher Rodney Beck was simply better than Casey. And, when the game was over, all that was left were the friendships.

“All the seniors from the baseball team are going to Hawaii in a week,” Casey said. “And a couple of my friends from Alemany are going, too.

“We’ll all be together having a great time before we go our separate ways. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”