ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Henson Triumphs After Class Struggle : Left-Handed Pitcher Overcomes Academic Problems to Lead Monroe to 4-A Title

Adding a Spanish class to his course load seemed like the smartest move of Sean Henson’s young high school career. The Monroe High sophomore’s mother immigrated to the United States from Mexico and would serve as the perfect tutor.

But Spanish must be a difficult subject at Monroe. Not only did Henson receive an F but his teammate on the Viking baseball team, Ernesto Echeveste, also was hit with a failing grade in the same class--and he speaks Spanish fluently.

“My mom got on me pretty good when I got the failing grade,” Henson said. “I was always there and did my homework, but when the tests came, I didn’t understand anything.”

Given the attrition rate, Monroe Coach Kevin Campbell has adopted a rallying cry for next year’s team: Parlez-vous francais? “I’m gonna tell my players to take French. Or Russian, anything but Spanish,” he said.

Henson learned his lesson: He dropped Spanish and emerged from the ranks of the academically ineligible to post three wins in postseason play, including Thursday’s 3-2 victory over San Fernando at Dodger Stadium that gave Monroe its first City Section baseball title since 1974.

Henson, who shackled San Fernando on five hits with 10 strikeouts, was the unlikeliest of heroes for the most improbable championship team. Monroe’s season-ending, five-game win streak pushed the team’s record to 13-16 as the Vikings became the first fourth-place team to win the 4-A championship.

Henson’s season reflected the Monroe turnaround. The 16-year-old left-hander finished the regular season with unimpressive statistics. He was 1-4 and had allowed 23 runs and 19 hits in 19 innings with 24 walks and only 6 strikeouts. In his last 21 innings, he allowed 17 hits and 7 earned runs and his strikeout-to-walk ratio flip-flopped to 17 to 8.

Campbell knew he had a varsity pitcher when Henson arrived on campus, but tentativeness spoiled Henson’s early outings, he said.

“Here was a young kid with a live arm who had a concept of pitching, but he was a little shaky at first,” Campbell said. “He was aiming the ball and falling behind in the count and not throwing as hard as he should.”

Henson agreed, saying, “Being ineligible really hurt me. The more I pitch, the stronger I get and my control gets better. And because I was a sophomore, I was trying to make every pitch too good. I was being too fine and my speed was suffering.”

Campbell noticed a difference when Henson matched Poly’s All-City left-hander, Greg Nealon, pitch for pitch in the first round of the playoffs.

“He came out and challenged people, not worrying about striking people out,” he said. “He just reached back and threw with a lot of movement on his fastball. He isn’t a dominating pitcher, but he isn’t afraid to pitch inside.”

Along with subduing the opposition, Henson managed to control his nervousness.

He felt the jitters before each playoff game, especially before the final, but he never doubted his ability to pitch Monroe to the championship, a quality that persuaded Campbell to stay with him against San Fernando.

“I knew he was nervous but he said he felt real confident,” Campbell said. “In the championship game he started to let up in the fifth and sixth innings.

“But in the seventh, he said he felt ready to go and I didn’t have any doubts that he could do it.”