This Time, Zamora Witnesses the Sweet Thrill of Victory

Lots of guys can win a high school baseball championship. In Orange County, 21 coaches since 1919 have done just that. Win one.

Bob Zamora of Capistrano Valley High has won three. At least that’s his version. The unofficial version, the unauthorized version.

Zamora has been coaching varsity baseball at Capistrano Valley for 15 years, but the CIF Southern Section record book will chronicle the Cougars’ triple-crown run this way:

YEAR COACH

1983--Bob Zamora

1987--Craig Anderson

1991--Bob Zamora

A typo?

An inside joke?

“This Space For Sale”--and Craig Anderson’s buying?

Technically speaking, Anderson was the head man in the dugout the day the Cougars beat La Serna, 6-2, at Dodger Stadium for the 1987 2-A title.

And Zamora?

“I was sipping a Bud Light on the beach at Doheny, in a mist,” Zamora says. “It was a miserable afternoon.”

Zamora’s day at the beach was no day at the beach because one week earlier, the Southern Section had suspended Zamora, barring him from any contact with his team for the remainder of the playoffs.

The crime: Zamora had allowed three of his players to play with him on his weekend semi-pro team, the Lamppost Stars. “I played baseball on Sunday with some of my players,” Zamora says innocently.

The Southern Section cried guilty and cited Zamora in violation of Rule 2412, banning him from the playoffs from the quarterfinals on.

“They were very nice,” Zamora deadpans. “The team went on and I was placed on a year’s probation.”

The day Capistrano Valley played La Serna, the Cougars wore Z wrist bands--Z for Zamora. Zamora attended a friend’s birthday party at Doheny State Beach, awaiting field reports from his wife.

“We had it prearranged that she would call me at a phone booth at 4:30,” Zamora says. “When she did, the guy in the toll booth thought I was crazy. I heard ‘6 to 2’ and I jumped five feet.”

Four years later, Craig Anderson is teaching junior high school in Lake Tahoe and Bob Zamora is back in a Southern Section championship game.

This time, the division is 4-A.

This time, the stadium is Anaheim.

This time, the opponent is Canyon.

Capistrano Valley wins, 8-3, and this time, Zamora is there to see it.

“Unbelievable,” Zamora says. Finally, his eyes have seen the glory--of Brand Caso driving a ball 400 feet over the fence in left-center, of Scott Patton going three-for-three, of Joe Geiss throwing three innings of shutout relief, of Eric Kemper racing twice into the outer limits of right field to deny Canyon extra-base hits.

This was Zamora’s most improbable championship. “In ’83 and ‘87,” he says, “we were rated up there from the start. We were very consistent. You could predict what we were going to do before the season.

“This team was a roller-coaster.”

The dip came early, too, nearly crashing the season after the first eight games. The Cougars opened 2-5-1. They hated the way they were playing--and they weren’t too keen about those they were playing with.

“Guys were quitting,” Zamora says. “Guys were calling each other names. We had fist fights in practice.

“When we lost to San Clemente, I’d had enough of them. And it wasn’t as baseball players--it was just as human beings. I told them, ‘If we lose every game from here on out, it doesn’t matter. You will not belittle one another. You will not fight. You will not say anything about another player unless it’s a positive comment.’

“Our theme was: Get along. We told them, ‘You don’t have to like each other. Just get along.’ ”

Personnel was asked to change. Personnel was changed. Second baseman Jeff Rynders and third baseman Tim Lyons were imported from the junior varsity. Chris Adams’ early misadventures in left field were corrected with a long stint at designated hitter.

The defense tightened. “After 2-5-1, we played errorless ball until the second game of the playoffs,” Zamora says.

The season tightened, too. For Capistrano Valley, the playoffs started a month early. The Cougars had to scramble just to tie for third in the South Coast League, then win a third-place playoff against Irvine, then win a wild-card game against Redondo.

“We played 32 ballgames this year,” Zamora notes. “The CIF maximum is 30, but we had to play two extra just to qualify for the playoffs.”

He glances around the Anaheim Stadium locker room.

“How many games did it take us to get here? Seven? Every other team plays five.

“But that’s great. I’d rather play one more.”

The sweetest sight for Zamora was the aftermath of Saturday’s game. There, on the middle of diamond, Zamora’s players jumped on each other, hugged each other, spent a few adrenaline-charged moments appearing to actually like each other.

They got along a long way.

Zamora, by the way, still plays for the Lamppost Stars. He’ll be on the field today, at Villa Park High, starting at second base.

“I still play!” Zamora shouts. “And I play with Tommy Adams! But he’s graduated. And I play with my son. They can’t fool with the father-son relationship. This is the United States. I am able to play with my son on a Sunday afternoon.”

Zamora sounded reasonably sure.