Foothill Softball Coach’s Surgery Goes Well, Son Says

Foothill softball Coach Joe Gonzalez underwent 4 1/2 hours of surgery Tuesday to remove one of his kidneys.

It went so well, said his son, Mike, that Gonzalez was not even admitted into the intensive care unit, though doctors expected him to spend one to two days there. Gonzalez, 58, is expected to remain at City of Hope in Duarte for a week and not rejoin his team for two weeks after that.

Gonzalez had surgery after a growth was discovered on one of his kidneys during an annual physical examination.

“The pathologist hadn’t had a chance to look at it, but the doctor said he was pretty sure it was cancer,” said Mike Gonzalez, who is also a coach for the Knights. “[However] it was confined to the kidney. Nothing in the surrounding area was damaged or showed signs of being infected.

“We’re optimistic. When he woke up, he said, ‘Did we win?’ Good thing we did.”

Foothill, the top-ranked team in Orange County and No. 3 in the state, improved to 24-3 with a 2-0 Century League victory over Villa Park as Elizabeth Bendig pitched a two-hitter and Jaime Clark drove in her 28th run of the season.