O’Beck Warms Up to 49er Softball Team

Marie O’Beck wanted to come home.

She left to experience life outside her little world, but O’Beck soon realized that everything she really wanted--and needed--was right here. So the Huntington Beach native packed up and bolted from Chicago two years after arriving, landing comfortably at Long Beach State.

Her return has worked out well for the 49ers, too.

O’Beck is a key member of the Long Beach softball pitching staff, the Big West Conference’s best statistically. Her presence in the circle inspires confidence in the conference-leading 49ers. Moreover, O’Beck has been reunited with the most precious person in her life: her infant daughter.

Long Beach (31-16, 19-5 in the Big West) hosts fourth-place Cal State Fullerton (37-24, 15-13) at 2 p.m. today in a doubleheader. Long Beach’s magic number to clinch its first Big West title is four, with eight regular-season games remaining. No one is more excited than the first-year 49er.

“I’m very happy,” O’Beck said. “I like my teammates a lot, and we’ve got a really good team. I’m having so much fun, and being back home is great. I’m just really happy with my decision.”

The feeling is mutual.

“She’s been great,” 49er Coach Pete Manarino said. “She’s been a good addition and a big part of our success [pitching].

“I really hadn’t seen her pitch too much before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I guess I would have to say I am pleasantly surprised by what she’s been doing.”

O’Beck, a junior right-hander, is 7-3 with one save. She has a 2.01 earned-run average in 17 appearances, nine of them starts.

She doesn’t throw as hard as the 49ers’ other pitchers, instead relying on her wits and cool demeanor.

“She is so cool in tough situations,” Manarino said. “I use her mostly in relief, she’s always coming in during tough jams, and she never panics.

“It’s calming on the rest of the team. It helps the rest of the team when they see her out there getting out of jam after jam.”

O’Beck’s approach?

“I just concentrate on getting the batters out,” she said. “I don’t think about the baserunners at all.”

Seems sound enough. But there’s more to O’Beck’s success than simply paying attention, Manarino said.

“She’s so smart,” Manarino said. “Her intelligence is probably her best attribute. She handles hitters so well.”

O’Beck has for some time. She helped Mater Dei win Angelus League titles in 1991 and ‘92, and twice was selected all-league.

But after graduating, she became restless. O’Beck heard rumors of a world outside Orange County and wanted to see for herself.

“I just wanted to get away from home,” she said. “You know, just to experience being on my own.”

She left to play softball for De Paul, which had its moments. As a Blue Demon, O’Beck defeated Long Beach in 1994 and ’95.

However, Chicago winters made O’Beck reconsider the whole independence thing.

“The weather wasn’t fun,” she said.

More difficult for O’Beck, though, was the time apart from her newborn daughter, Micaela Arizmendi, who lived with O’Beck’s parents in Huntington Beach while O’Beck attended De Paul.

“That was hard,” O’Beck said. “I wanted to be with her because she’s my main priority. She was the main reason I came home. Being able to play softball is just an extra bonus.”

O’Beck, 20, spends as much time as possible with 18-month-old Micaela between playing softball and studying to become an investment banker. O’Beck receives help from her parents and Micaela’s father, Jose.

“It’s a lot better situation than before,” O’Beck said.

Handling school, big-time college softball and a baby isn’t easy, O’Beck admits. But Manarino says O’Beck is doing as well as anyone could--and better than most.

“It’s a tough juggling act, but she’s getting it done,” he said. “She’s shown me a lot of character and maturity.”

*

Not complete yet: Clyde Vaughan, the lead men’s basketball assistant under former Coach Seth Greenberg, has been retained in the same position on the staff of new Coach Wayne Morgan. But Tom Lewis, a former Mater Dei player and assistant coach, has not been hired as the 49ers’ other full-time assistant, interim Athletic Director Bill Shumard said.

Vaughan recently visited Greenberg, his longtime friend and mentor, in Tampa while considering joining Greenberg’s staff at South Florida. He decided to remain at Long Beach after consulting with his wife and friends in the coaching community.

“It was a very difficult decision because Seth has told people that I will always have a job as long as he does,” Vaughan said. “But I thought this was the best decision for me and my family.”

And a big raise probably made his decision easier. Although Vaughan declined to comment on his new contract, sources said his annual salary makes him among the highest-paid Big West assistants.

Lewis, the 1985 Southern Section player of the year, is seeking the other assistant’s position, and sources said Morgan wants to hire him. Matt Hart, the other full-time assistant on Greenberg’s 49er staff, has a contract that expires Sept. 30.