Maye Grows Up in a Hurry, Highlanders Win League Title

Much has changed in the Marmonte League since Dan Mayo became Royal High baseball coach in 1990.

Mostly coaches. All of them.

Except, of course, Maye.

Of the seven other league coaches on the job when Maye arrived, none are still at their posts. And four new ones arrived this season.

Suddenly, Maye, whose boyish looks have remained since his playing days as a catcher at Culver City High, is the league’s dean at 33.

Talk about growing up in a hurry.

“When I got here, there weren’t a lot of people in Simi Valley who knew who I was,” Maye said.

A former assistant at Culver City for three years, Maye began at Royal by leading the Highlanders to a second-place finish and their first playoff appearance since 1976.

“It was one of my more rewarding years,” Maye said. “It was a hungry team that had to prove people wrong.”

Maye has since proved he belongs at the Division I level, guiding Royal to league championships in 1992 and again this season.

Royal (24-3) set a school record for victories this season while winning the league title by two games over Camarillo. The Highlanders advanced to the second round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs, where they lost to Crespi, 1-0.

Throughout his tenure, Royal has been a perennial contender and Maye commander-in-chief of what has developed into one of the region’s top programs.

“I think the kids, even in the years we didn’t win the league, have felt successful,” Maye said. “So far, we’ve been able to keep winning, and that keeps kids wanting to come out and play in the program.”

Maye carries a heavy teaching load that includes classes in physical science, chemistry and driver’s education, and has taught 15 subjects at Royal. Someday he would like to coach college baseball.

“I think most coaches have it in the back of their mind that they’d like to move up,” Maye said. “At some point I’d like to move up, but I’m not searching for a job. I tell myself I want to do the best possible job at the high school level.”