Stillwell to Resign Baseball Post at Moorpark College

Ron Stillwell said Wednesday that he will resign as baseball coach at Moorpark College effective at the end of the season. Stillwell, who has taught physical education at Thousand Oaks High for 25 years, is in his fifth season at Moorpark on a walk-on basis.

Stillwell, whose team is 20-13 overall and 9-7 in Western State Conference play this season, said that he is resigning because maintaining the program without being on the Moorpark campus full time has its drawbacks.

“It has been very difficult doing the job I would like to do as a walk-on coach,” Stillwell said. “I race from Thousand Oaks to Moorpark and arrive at the ballpark 25 minutes before the first pitch. This is just a very stressful and unsettling way to try and coach and I just can’t do it anymore.”

Stillwell plans to take a one-year leave of absence from teaching beginning next fall and move with his wife Jan to Orlando, Fla., to work with his brother in clothing sales. Kurt Stillwell, Ron and Jan’s middle son, plays shortstop for the Kansas City Royals, whose spring training site is in Baseball City, Fla.

“At least I’ll be able to see Kurt play baseball now,” Stillwell said.

Said Moorpark second baseman Steve Sisco: “I was really disappointed. . . . I went to Moorpark because I had heard good things about him.”