Maitozo Rode Away From the Heckling

The hints came almost immediately after a chorus of taunts floated to the outfield where Devon Maitozo stood nervously.

Maitozo heard the remarks from teammates and opponents whenever he stepped on the Little League baseball field. Maitozo’s best chance to escape the jeers would have been to crawl under the nearest base or home plate whenever he booted a routine fielding chance or struck out with the bases loaded.

Maitozo isn’t crawling or being teased anymore since he traded his bat and glove for an opportunity to showcase his horse vaulting skills on the national and international stage.

Maitozo has gobbled up his share of trophies in competitions from the United States to Europe. The latest wave of success for the 25-year-old Agoura Hills resident came when he won the individual male competition in the American Vaulting Assn. National Championships at the Earl Warren Fairgrounds in Santa Barbara on Aug. 26.

It marked the second consecutive year Maitozo has captured the event and the fourth time since 1990. The 5-9 Maitozo produced an overall score of 8.606 in the two-round competition, which consisted of such daredevil acts like reverse stands and standing 20 feet above the ground on Vancouver, a Dutch warmblooded horse.

“Baseball was definitely not my game,” said Maitozo, who has four second-place finishes to his credit in the individual competition and 18 years of vaulting experience. “I was probably the worst player on my Little League team, and I knew there would be another sport out there where I could somehow succeed. I didn’t know it would be horse vaulting.

“Now I go out there showing people why I like to vault. I guess I’m an old-timer on the American vaulting scene. Winning a championship was something I expected because of my experience.”

Winning titles is something the 165-pound Maitozo, a native of Westlake Village, has done routinely. He plans to continue the trend, individually and as the coach of the Agoura-based Free Artists Creative Equestrians Vaulting Club.

In August, Maitozo raised his skills a notch while competing against several opponents on the all-dirt grounds despite unseasonably warm temperatures that gripped Santa Barbara. Aside from trying to repeat as national champion, there wasn’t much pressure placed on the broad shoulders of Maitozo.

“I was relaxed and I took about 90 minutes to warm-up,” Maitozo said. “The time allowed me to think about the things I needed to do and stay focused on my own routine. You just can’t rush into the arena.”

Maitozo, who guided the Free Artists Creative Equestrians squad to a national championship in Santa Barbara, began fostering his horse vaulting skills at the age of 7 when he joined a 12-member 4-H Vaulting Club on a ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

While it appeared to be an arduous task to learn the rigors of vaulting, Maitozo realized that it was an opportunity for him to carve his niche while his friends played customary sports like baseball and basketball.

“I saw where horse vaulting could go,” said Maitozo, who won in the vaulting competition at the 1998 World Equestrian Games in Rome. “I had teachers who served as role models that I looked up to. I also liked the idea of doing something obscure. This was something that just fell into my life and I wanted the chance to push myself physically.”

He’s collected a plethora of ribbons during his horse-vaulting career. The odds that Maitozo will continue to add to that collection appear to favor him despite undergoing reconstructive knee surgery in 1999.

Maitozo had the surgery performed about 10 weeks before winning the individual competition of the American Vaulting Assn. National Championships in Denver.

Maitozo’s professionalism and energy has rubbed off on members of the Free Artists Creative Equestrians, including 16-year-old Blake Dahlgren.

“He’s given me some great advice on different routines, and he’s gifted in his creativity,” said Dahlgren, a Village Christian High student who won an individual silver medal in the male competition in Santa Barbara.

Maitozo wants to win the International Vaulting Competition in Saratoga next year.

“I want to continue pushing the envelope every year, and I don’t want to be predictable,” Maitozo said. “I want to become more of an athlete. For me, it’s very comfortable to express myself on a horse. You feel a certain amount of pride because it’s a place where I can show what I can do.”