Mary Star Coach Finds Some Relief From Agony on Baseball Field

The toughest baseball season in Frank Ponce De Leon’s life is marked with extreme highs and lows.

There are times when the Mary Star coach can forget the past and enjoy an exciting moment on the baseball field. Other days, his memory takes over and relives the tragedy of last summer.

Ponce De Leon says he almost gave up coaching after the death of his mother in an auto accident on July 20. Virginia Ponce De Leon, 46, was killed instantly when a runaway trash truck traveling downhill on Crenshaw Boulevard in Palos Verdes crashed through the guardrail and into her car.

The oldest of four brothers and two sisters, Frank, 27, greatly feels the loss of his mother, one of his most devoted supporters.

“I almost gave it all up this season,” he said. “You just feel cheated. Nothing seems to matter. I had to ask myself, ‘What’s it all about?’ If this is it, then why put your time into (coaching) if something like this is going to happen?

“It’s a feeling I can’t describe. It just jumps up and bites you. Some days I feel good. Some days I feel really bad.”

Ponce De Leon says he returned for his third season at Mary Star because he wanted the opportunity to coach his brother Mark, a freshman, and he wanted to keep busy. A walk-on coach, he owns a trucking business.

“It’s good therapy,” he said. “Another thing that keeps me going is the memory of my mother. I pretend that she’s there and supporting me. She was at all the games. I don’t think she would have wanted me to quit.”

Ponce De Leon is glad he stuck around for another season. Mary Star took a 6-3 record into its Camino Real League opener on Wednesday, and Ponce De Leon believes the Stars have a good chance of making the CIF 2-A playoffs.

Infielder Rich Negrete is hitting over .500 and Mike Vitalich (1-0) heads a surprising pitching staff.

“St. Bernard is the team to beat in the Camino Real League,” said Ponce De Leon, a former standout player at Mary Star and Cal State Dominguez Hills. “After that, it’s anybody’s race. I think we’re going to surprise some people.”

Winning is important to any coach, but Ponce De Leon wants his players to enjoy themselves, too. He says pressure shouldn’t play a part in coaching.

“Pressure is when I got the phone call and drove to the scene of the accident,” he said. “That’s pressure. Everything else is just a game.”

Bishop Montgomery baseball Coach Bob Anderson called Saturday’s 4-3 upset over Mater Dei, “the biggest win of my coaching career.”

Mater Dei came into the Angelus League opener with a 7-0 record and ranked No. 1 in Orange County. Bishop Montgomery had a 2-2 mark and was coming off a 3-12 league season.

“Everyone said what an upset it was, but we did what we set out to do,” said Anderson. “We’re exactly where we wanted to be. No one was expecting very much out of us.”

However, it may have been a costly victory.

Jon Newville, the Knights’ ace pitcher, suffered a strained groin muscle in the second inning and is questionable for his next start on Saturday at Bishop Amat at noon.

“We’re going to take him very slowly,” said Anderson. “We’re not going to reinjure him.”

Right-handers Erik Russell and Matt Grimmond relieved Newville on Saturday and pitched well.

Fremont girls basketball Coach Lola Smith admitted she was apprehensive about facing Morningside in the state Division I finals on Saturday night in Oakland.

“I heard they had a big 6-5 center (Lisa Leslie) and an All-American forward (Shaunda Greene),” Smith said. “We were scared to death. But they weren’t that good.”

Fremont of Oakland upset the state’s top-ranked team, 53-52, after Leslie missed a 6-foot shot in the key at the buzzer. The Lady Monarchs did not score in the final 4:30 after leading, 52-44.

“It’s no big deal,” said Leslie, Morningside’s sophomore center. “It’s not Lynwood. It’s not that bad. We won what we really wanted to win. I still feel we’re No. 1.”

Morningside had beaten Lynwood in the Southern Section 4-A and Southern California Regional finals.

Scott Davison of Redondo moved into a tie for ninth place in career pitching wins in the CIF Southern Section with a three-hit shutout over Loyola, 3-0, Tuesday night.

The senior right-hander improved to 4-0 on the season and 34-5 for his career, tying Chuck Powell of Fullerton (1975-77).

Davison has a chance to pass everyone on the career win list except El Segundo’s Scott McGregor, who won 51 games from 1969 to 1972. Jeff Peterson of Sonora (1970-73) and Jeff Cirillo of Providence (1984-87) are tied for second, each with 40 wins.

Curtis Conway, the Hawthorne quarterback who dazzled defenses with his running last season, is off to a good start in track.

Conway swept the sprints in the Alemany Invitational at Cal State Northridge last Saturday, winning the 100 meters in a wind-aided time of 10.61 seconds and the 200 in 21.51.

PREP NOTES--First place in the Bay League baseball race is on the line today when North Torrance (2-0) visits West Torrance (2-0) at 3 p.m. game . . . Morningside forward Shaunda Greene has been named to Parade magazine’s All-America High School girls basketball team. Greene, a fourth-team pick, was one of 40 girls selected. Lynwood guard Trise Jackson was named to the second team and Muir forward Tasha Bradley made the third team. Greene also has been nominated for the Converse All-America team . . . The Redondo/Palos Verdes Baseball Tournament, which started on Saturday, will resume with second-round games on April 9, highlighted by a triple-header at Redondo. Redondo will face Downey at 11 a.m., followed by Westchester against St. John Bosco at 3 and a 7 p.m. nightcap between El Segundo and Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.

South Bay Top 10 Boys’ Baseball Selected by Times sportswriters (Records through Tuesday’s games) Rank, School, League Record 1 Redondo (Pioneer) 9-0 2 San Pedro (Marine 7-0 3 St. Bernard (Camino Real) 5-2 4 Banning (Marine) 5-2 5 West Torrance (Bay) 6-2 6 Bishop Montgomery (Angelus) 3-2 7 El Segundo (Pioneer) 5-4 8 North Torrance (Bay) 5-3 9 Gardena (Marine) 2-1 10 Mary Star (Camino Real) 6-3