Curran Builds Esperanza From the Bottom Up

Esperanza had little to show for its baseball program when Mike Curran was hired as coach in 1980.

The Aztecs had never been to the playoffs, they played on a rough-edged field that had a manually operated scoreboard and no batting cages.

Thirteen years later, the Aztecs again have it all--a 3-0 upset of Simi Valley in the Southern Section Division I finals Wednesday night at Anaheim Stadium.

Curran built the Aztecs into a power not only in the Empire League, but throughout Orange County and the national ranks.

But along the way, he and his teams have come to fully comprehend the thrill of winning section championship games--and the frustration of losing them.

Making their fourth appearance in the finals in eight years, the unseeded Aztecs stunned second-seeded Simi Valley, top-ranked nationally by USA Today.

It was Esperanza’s first championship since beating Fontana, 9-3, in 1986 and ended a two-game losing streak in the finals.

“This game let me know we can win in this place,” Curran said. “It let me feel like it was 1986 again.”

Esperanza’s 1986 victory gave the school the mythical national championship, the same honor Simi Valley could have earned with a victory Wednesday night.

“I know exactly how Simi Valley feels right now,” Curran said. “They’re a great team. Sometimes this game just isn’t fair.”

The Aztecs were second-ranked nationally going into the 1987 finals at Dodger Stadium, and could have moved into the top spot with a victory. Their 1-0 loss in nine innings, to a Lakewood team that featured Damion Easley, now second baseman for the Angels, still ranks as one of the school’s toughest defeats.

Lakewood loaded the bases in the ninth, then an Aztec lost a high chopper in the lights to let the winning run score. Mike McNary, Lakewood’s pitcher, went the distance and earned a spot in Esperanza’s program under the category “All-Opponent team.”

The Aztecs reached the finals again in 1988, losing again by a run, 3-2, to Diamond Bar, at Anaheim Stadium.

Perhaps Curran’s best team was in 1991, one that never made the section finals. Led by David Newhan and Keith McDonald, Esperanza was top-ranked nationally before losing, 6-0, to Long Beach Millikan and Dante Powell in the section semifinals.

But Curran said this year’s team had the pitching--and an underdog attitude--that set it apart from his past squads. Marcus Jones shut out a Simi Valley lineup that hit .389, averaged 11.1 runs a game and had hit 40 home runs.

“The fact that we won it this year shows more for these kids than for the program,” Curran said. “Last year, we didn’t even make the playoffs. We were picked to finish third in league this year. And the kids just didn’t care about any of that.

“We have a good team, and the only ones who knew this season were the Orange County sportswriters (who ranked the Aztecs No. 1).”