Orange County Player of the Week : Saunders Gets His Turn in the Family Spotlight

Being the youngest of five baseball-playing brothers, Doug Saunders was used to waiting his turn. Whether it was a pop fly or an apple pie, Saunders, a junior second baseman at Esperanza High School, was always the last to receive.

But things have changed--at least in the Saunders household. Now Doug’s four brothers--Eric, Keith, Dennis and Barry--call in two nights a week to see how their little brother fared in the game that day.

There was plenty of good news last week as Saunders, The Times’ Player of the Week, was 2 for 3 with five RBIs Wednesday in a 10-2 victory over Kennedy. He had three hits Friday in a 16-2 victory over Loara.

The brothers--all of whom played Little League and two of whom, Keith and Barry, also played at Esperanza--are used to Doug’s athletic achievements. His mother, Alice, said that at 15 months, Doug could hurl a baseball with surprising force and hit tennis balls across the kitchen floor with a tennis racket.

At 7, Doug tagged along with Keith, then 11, to Little League practice. But instead of watching, Doug was asked to practice with the team.

At 11, Saunders made the Little League all-star team for 12-year-olds. At 14, he made the Senior League all-star team for 15-year-olds.

“My dad was a (Little League) coach,” Saunders said. “Maybe that helped.”

As a freshman at Esperanza, Saunders hit .572 on the junior varsity. He was happy with the average but wasn’t happy being on the junior varsity.

In his sophomore season, he worked hard to make the varsity, practicing with his brothers.

It was all for naught, though. He broke a bone in his foot during an early-season practice, ending his sophomore season. This season, he started his varsity career with a home run in his first game.

“He called me right away--I guess to put the thorn in my side,” said Keith Saunders, now a finance major at the University of the Pacific. “He must have checked the (Aztec) record books, because he said he had just passed my all-time home run record--in his first game. He had one. I never had any.”

After 17 games this season, Saunders is batting .458 with 20 RBIs, 4 doubles and 5 home runs. He leads the Aztecs (8-0, 16-1) in runs scored (23). As a pitcher, he is 3-0 with a 0.81 earned-run average.

“Doug was more devoted to athletics than the rest of us,” Keith Saunders said. “It’s obviously paying off for him now. He’s worked hard to develop his talents. He deserves it.”