Tustin’s Brown Announces He’ll Leave at End of Season
Vince Brown, the most successful baseball coach in Orange County the past seven seasons, announced Wednesday that he has resigned, effective at the end of the season.
Brown, 32, has led Tustin to a 129-49 record, including Wednesday night’s 3-1 loss to New Jersey Cherry Hill in the semifinals of the Upper Deck tournament in Fullerton. He said he informed school administrators of his decision last Friday.
“I’ve been coaching at one level or another since I was 12 years old, and 20 years later, I’ve decided it’s time for a change in direction,” Brown said. “I wanted our principal to know now so that there’s plenty of time to hire a new coach and continue the program through the summer.”
Tustin has won four league titles in six seasons under Brown and is currently in first place in the Sea View League with a 7-0 record.
Tustin has advanced to at least the semifinal round of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs the past three seasons, losing, 1-0 to La Serna in the 1990 title game at Anaheim Stadium.
“I’m a perfectionist and I take things really hard when we lose,” Brown said. “We had some tough losses over the past three years that I’ve taken very personally.
“I love coaching, but I thought it was just time to change direction. This is a very time-consuming job. You’re coaching all year at school and then all summer. I’m not burned out, and I plan to continue coaching somewhere. But it was time for a change at Tustin.”
Tustin was voted as the top-ranked team in Orange County in 1990 when it finished the regular season with a 20-3 record with outfielder Shawn Green, second baseman Ben Munoz and pitcher Dave Baker in the lineup.
Green was named the county’s player of the year last season and later earned a $750,000 signing bonus with the Toronto Blue Jays after becoming the team’s top pick in the June amateur draft.
“I’ve had some great players and some great times at Tustin,” Brown said.
Brown will continue to teach life science and health education at Tustin.