SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Curran’s Commitment Is the Key to Esperanza’s Continuing Success

Depending on whom you talk to, a relatively short, perennially tanned man whose playing career was cut short by his talent is anywhere from 90% to 100% responsible for the present fortunes of the Esperanza High School baseball team.

His name is Mike Curran, and conspicuous among his teams’ accomplishments are four consecutive Empire League championships (1984-87), a Southern Section large-school (4-A) championship in 1986, a return appearance in the final last season and another one in the large-school 5-A final against Diamond Bar tonight at 7:30 in Anaheim Stadium.

Esperanza’s success seems to have everything to do with the hard-driving Curran. Remarkably low-key in conversation, Curran has been known to get so angry as to lose the ability to talk, becoming a seething, shaking thing with bulging veins.

“There were times that we thought he’d explode right in front of our eyes,” said former player Mike Sugar (1981-83) who went on to star at UC Irvine. “We were scared to death of him at those times. But we never lost respect. I’ve had some coaches who go off and you just laugh. Mike always had a reason.”

Doug Domene, Esperanza assistant, explained: “Mike is the only guy I’ve ever seen who can chew a kid out and not have that kid hate his guts. They know he’s doing what’s best. They trust him.”

These days, who wouldn’t?

Reaching three consecutive finals in the large-school division, in an area generally regarded as the hotbed of young baseball talent; to do it in a single-elimination tournament in which one hot pitcher or one fly ball lost in the sun can mean an end to a season is nothing short of amazing.

“If you ask me, considering all the invariables and the luck factor, it’s incredible,” Bob Ickes, Mater Dei coach, said.

But not unprecedented. Lakewood High made four consecutive appearances in the large-school finals between 1975-78. But that was then and Esperanza is definitely now.

“It’s a really weird feeling to go somewhere you’ve never been before and meet people who know everything about the team,” Doug Saunders, Esperanza shortstop, said.

Esperanza’s name precedes its team, with varying responses.

It was the beginning of last school year that Roger Weems’ family emigrated from South Korea to Southern California. One of the Weems’ big concerns was furthering Roger’s promising baseball career. When they inquired as to the top program in the area, Esperanza won in a rout.

Weems went 8-0 last season with a 1.88 earned-run average; he is 9-4 this season.

On the other side, an Arcadia High baseball star named Charlie Emerson cried last season, “Esperanza, Esperanza, I’m sick and tired of hearing about Esperanza.”

Emerson went on to predict an Arcadia victory in last year’s playoffs. Sorry, Charlie. Esperanza 2, Arcadia 0.

“The kind of success we’ve had hasn’t exactly endeared us to other teams,” Curran said.

But it has caused a lot of people to talk about the Esperanza tradition. Saunders, who set an Orange County record with eight saves this season, talked about dreading being labeled the team that didn’t get to the final.

But the fact is that Esperanza’s baseball tradition has existed a relatively short time.

The school made its first playoff appearance six seasons ago (1983).

What Curran recalls from his first two seasons (1981, ‘82) at Esperanza, after coming from St. Paul High, he translates into talk about a circus.

The way he cringes at the memory, you understand he’s not referring to any big-top extravaganza, but one of those supermarket parking lot operations with a petting zoo that required gloves.

“It wasn’t pretty,” he said.

What Curran encountered at Esperanza was very similar to experiences at St. Paul. He was made the head coach there in 1975 at the age of 23. St. Paul, like Esperanza, has an exceptional football tradition. When Curran took over, it also had Marijon Ancich, now at Tustin, as football coach.

“Marijon wasn’t too crazy about sharing his players,” Curran said. “We had more than one discussion about whether a kid could come out for baseball.”

Not helping Curran’s cause was the fact that the baseball team had won just six games the previous season. Curran decided he had to recruit. He became a lower-level football coach, and in between teaching blocking schemes, he waxed on about spring days and the crack of the bat.

He got enough athletes out to win the Angelus League championships his first three seasons. His teams made playoff appearances every year he was there.

But with respectability came higher expectations and frustration. St. Paul teams were eliminated three times from the playoffs by the eventual 4-A champion--Glendale Hoover in 1975, San Gorgonio in 1977 and Mater Dei in 1980.

“I got to believing that it was a requirement to beat us to win a championship,” Curran said.

Against San Gorgonio, St. Paul lost on a ninth-inning error.

“It was the easiest ground ball you can imagine,” Curran said. “Just thinking about it still gets me worked up. Things like that really made me feel snake-bitten. I really only got over the feeling last season. People say I’m fortunate with this team. I tell them I’ve paid my dues in the playoffs.”

When Curran got to Esperanza, he found a football coach (Pete Yoder) much more agreeable to his players also playing baseball, but a baseball team that had never been in the playoffs.

Curran repeated the process. He became a lower-level football coach, recruited a band of sophomores, including Sugar, who went on to give Esperanza its finest season to date at 13-9-1.

“They were a second-division team,” Steve Gullotti, El Dorado coach, said. “But they weren’t horrible.”

It’s probably Curran’s drive that makes him recall those days with slight horror.

“The thing about coach is, he is a baseball coach,” Saunders said. “That’s what he’s about. Everything he does is geared towards baseball. It’s the most important thing in his life, and if you play for him it becomes the most important thing in yours.”

It’s the ability to motivate players that fellow coaches say is Curran’s greatest strength.

Gullotti played baseball with Curran at Rio Hondo College and agrees with Curran’s personal assessment of his ability as a “second baseman who couldn’t run, couldn’t throw and couldn’t hit.”

Gullotti called him a “back-up utility player,” but said his enthusiasm for the game never waned.

“You always knew he was behind you,” Gullotti said. “He’d never let you give up on yourself. He’s carried that over into his coaching. His kids have supreme confidence in themselves because he puts it there.”

Saunders says Curran calls it the “bull-dog attitude. You never quit. You just keep coming at the other team.”

And Esperanza has shown remarkable resilience in the playoffs the past three years, going 14-1.

In 1986, trailing No. 1-seeded Simi Valley, 5-4, in the sixth inning, shortstop Tom Redington hit a two-run homer. Esperanza won, 6-5.

In 1987, the Aztecs beat Diamond Bar, 2-1; Arcadia, 2-0, and came from a 5-0 deficit to beat Servite, 7-5.

Esperanza trailed Beverly Hills, 3-2, after four innings in last week’s semifinal.

“I saw that game, and you could see the Beverly Hills kids were more nervous and they were ahead,” Sugar said. “Those kids (Esperanza) expect to win. They know they’re going to score runs.”

The Aztecs did and won, 12-3.

Which means Curran doesn’t have to convince anyone to play baseball anymore at Esperanza.

“No more banging down the halls looking for kids,” he said.

His baseball field has grown with the success. A new scoreboard, new dugouts, batting cages, new sod.

But true to form, Curran is never satisfied, pointing out that next year’s team may even be better. But for now he’s happy to be going to Anaheim Stadium.

“Who knows, I might never get back there again,” he said. “Then again. . . . “

5-A STARTING LINEUPS

DIAMOND BAR ESPERANZA Pos. Name Avg. Pos. Name Avg. 3B Kyle Shuler .340 2B Todd Gudat .406 SS Tito Quiles .436 LF Deric Williams .273 CF Jim Edmonds .545 SS Doug Saunders .494 1B Tony Darden .488 1B Jim Short .538 DH Vince Garcia .283 P Jason Moler .361 LF Ed Mylett .384 3B Kevin Webb .308 C Bascom Mellon .284 RF Greg Hauser .217 2B Rich Fry .346 C Rick Pressel .230 RF Mike Hoyos .219 DH Dave Allen .273

Note: Jason Moler’s record is 5-2.

Paul Spere (8-1) is Diamond Bar’s starting pitcher but does not bat.

Esperanza’s Dave Allen bats for center fielder Craig O’Connor

5-A MATCHUPS Esperanza (21-8) vs. Diamond Bar (23-7)

at Anaheim Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

After winning the tough Empire League four consecutive seasons (1984-87), Esperanza fell to third place this year. Other than that, everything has been status quo in the playoffs. The Aztecs are 14-1 in the playoffs over the last three years, losing only to Lakewood last season in the championship game. First baseman Jim Short is hitting .530 in the playoffs. Shortstop Doug Saunders is hitting .470 this season with 9 home runs. Saunders also has 8 saves, an Orange County record. Jason Moler (5-2) is scheduled to start. Roger Weems (9-4) has three victories in the playoffs and could work in relief along with Saunders. Diamond Bar pitcher Tony Darden allowed only 3 hits and struck out 13 in a 3-1 semifinal victory over Riverside Poly Tuesday. Center fielder Jim Edmonds had three hits against Riverside Poly, raising his season average to .545. He also had 6 home runs and 43 RBIs. Besides Edmonds, who is also 4-1 as a pitcher, Diamond Bar has two other players hitting over .400. Darden is hitting .488 and Tito Quiles is at .436. Diamond Bar, Sierra League champion, won the 2-A championship in 1985. Paul Spere (8-1) will be Diamond Bar’s starting pitcher.