Prep Review / Tom Hamilton : Torres Gives Anaheim Winning Baseball Team

When Anaheim High School opened the 1988 prep baseball season by losing four of five games, many predicted the Colonists were headed for another losing season.

The Colonists had won only four games in 1987 and had failed to qualify for the Southern Section playoffs for eight straight years. Even the addition of Coach Dave Torres, who had enjoyed five successful seasons at Fullerton, wasn’t going to turn this program around.

Torres had built a strong program at Fullerton from 1983-87, winning two Freeway League titles and qualifying for the postseason playoffs four times.

But turning the program around at Anaheim was a challenge. One day in practice, Torres noticed the players were merely going through the motions and it was time for a change.

“I didn’t blow up, but I stopped practice and explained to the players that if they didn’t want to work hard in practice, they were wasting their time and mine,” he said. “There was no enthusiasm on the field and I was really concerned.”

Torres had established a goal of winning the Orange League title and re-emphasized the importance of working hard toward the goal. He routinely schedules four-hour practices and considers a two-hour day on Saturday a light workout.

He noticed a big change in his team’s work ethics after the practice session. The players began believing in Torres and now the hard work is paying dividends.

“The big thing was getting every player thinking and working toward the goal of winning the league,” he said. “Then, I had to work on their confidence. It seemed like whenever we got behind, we were in trouble. Some of the kids gave up.”

It took some time, but Torres appears to have turned the Colonists into winners. Anaheim sits on top of the Orange League standings with an 8-3 record, a half game ahead of Valencia and Western, both 7-3-1.

Torres was hired as an English teacher at Anaheim last August after spending five years as a substitute teacher in the Fullerton Union High School District. He said the opportunity to get a full-time teaching position lured him to Anaheim.

“I had some mixed emotions leaving Fullerton,” he said. “I graduated from Fullerton in 1978 and played on a CIF championship baseball team there in my senior season.

“I was hired there right out of college when I was 22 years old. There were some strong ties, and it was hard leaving the kids.

“But I wanted a full-time teaching job and Anaheim presented a great opportunity. This job is exactly what I wanted . . . an opportunity to teach and coach.”

One for the books: Susan Tousey, center at Brea-Olinda, has made some headlines and earned her share of honors in her three-year prep career. Brea has been one of the state’s best girls’ programs, winning the Southern Section 3-A title in 1986.

Tousey’s parents have amassed a thick scrapbook chronicling their daughter’s accomplishments, but the finishing touch on her career really is one for the book.

“The last thing we put in her scrapbook was the story about the fire destroying the girls gymnasium,” said her father, Mike Tousey.

Two weeks ago, a fire started in the basement and spread through three levels, destroying the girls’ 59-year-old gymnasium and new uniforms worth an estimated $4,000.

Thanks, But No Thanks: Jim Perry, basketball coach and athletic director at La Quinta, recently rejected an offer to become an assistant at University of the Pacific under Bob Thomason, newly appointed basketball coach.

Perry and Thomason met five years ago and have since become good friends. When Thomason was hired away from Stanislaus State to become Pacific’s coach, he called Perry and asked him to join his staff.

“It was an attractive offer to coach at a great academic school, but I had a gut feeling that Pacific wasn’t right for me at this time,” Perry said. “College coaching is something that’s always interested me, but I’m staying at La Quinta.”

Long Time Running: When Ron Goods, Tustin’s freshman sprinter, ran a 10.2 in the 100-yard dash against Newport Harbor last week, he broke a school record that had stood longer than most high schools in the county.

Goods’ mark eclipsed Gary Walker’s mark of 10.3 established 31-years ago in 1957 at Tustin.

Overlooked Dept.: Canyon’s multi-talented Allison Franke may have been named field athlete of the meet at the Orange County Girls’ track and field championship Saturday at Rancho Santiago College, but sophomore teammate Sheila Green established a meet record in long jump in the frosh-soph division.

Green’s mark of 18-0 1/2 broke the meet record of 17-11 3/4 established by Alyssa Phillips of Cypress in 1984. What’s more, Green’s mark was a little more than half a foot longer than Franke’s mark of 17-6 in the varsity division.

Prep Notes

The 10th South Orange County Weight Lifting Invitational, open to high school boy and girls athletes, is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday at San Clemente High. Former prep football All-Americans George Hemingway of Colton and Scott Spalding of El Toro and Brian Blutreich, state shot put record holder for Capistrano Valley, are among past champions. Entry fee is $6 and further information can be obtained by calling David Elecciri at 492-4165. . . . The spring meeting of the Orange County Athletic Director’s Assn. is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, at the Anaheim Stadium Club. The county’s boy and girl athletes of the year will be announced at the meeting. . . . Kevin Graddy, 6-foot 5-inch forward at Buena Park, will play for Southern California College next season. Graddy averaged 22.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. . . . Two-time state wrestling champion Mike Phillips of Capistrano Valley has signed a national letter of intent to attend Oklahoma. . . . Kaleaph Carter of Edison has been named the Sunset League’s athlete of the year by league administrators and athletic directors. Carter holds the school’s career rushing record and has the nation’s leading mark of 63 feet, 2 inches in the shot put. . . . Tustin forward Leo Parker said he will attend Ventura College in the fall where he will play basketball for one-time Santa Ana Valley Coach Phil Mathews. . . . Former Dodger and Angel outfielder Jay Johnstone will be the master of ceremonies at an invitational luncheon on Thursday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Southern Section at the Sequoia Athletic Club in Buena Park. . . . Tournament director Dave Zirkle has added two basketball teams from Seattle, Juanita and Kennedy, to the field for the Orange Invitational in December at Chapman College’s Hutton Sports Center.