Hard Work Has Polished These Diamond Gems
It’s a lesson all parents try to instill in their children: Work hard and good things will happen.
Two baseball players from the San Fernando Valley, junior pitcher Justin Cassel of Chatsworth High and senior left fielder Adam McLeod of Reseda Cleveland, have begun to fulfill their potential because they’ve gone beyond the normal commitment to succeed.
Last season, Cassel struggled at times. He had a 4.40 earned-run average. He walked 43 batters in 592/3 innings. He had no one to blame but himself because he was out of shape.
This season, he wakes up at 5 a.m. and works out at a fitness center before going to school. He has lost 20 pounds, dropping to 195.
“It’s made a huge difference,” Cassel said. “I feel I can compete one through seven innings. With your body in shape, your mechanics are so fluid.”
He has allowed one earned run in 27 innings, walked only five and is 4-0 for the No. 1-ranked team in Southern California. He has been pitching even better than teammate Joe Guntz, who has a 28-0 career record.
Much was expected of Cassel. His brother, Matt, is a quarterback at USC. Another brother, Jack, is a pitcher in the San Diego Padre organization.
Cassel has finally become a consistent pitcher because of hard work.
McLeod needed a push from his mother, Donna, to figure out what he really wanted to accomplish in sports. He quit baseball when he was 8. He started playing again as a freshman in high school, at the urging of his mother, who didn’t want him sitting around the house watching television.
“Get a job or play baseball,” she told him.
For almost three years on junior varsity, McLeod, 6 feet and 185 pounds, worked on regaining his form.
“Most of the guys here have been playing since 5,” he said. “I picked it up again at 14. It’s a constant learning process.”
In his first full season on varsity, McLeod is batting .423. He’s one of the fastest players in the West Valley League. He has the kind of natural skills scouts look for. But more importantly, he has been willing to start from the bottom and work his way to the top.
“I’m still not there yet,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard work. I’m feeling a lot more comfortable. I envision myself as an athlete still learning.”
*
Senior left-hander Mike McKernan of Westminster La Quinta deserves respect. He is overshadowed because he plays on the same team with junior right-hander Ian Kennedy, who throws fastballs in the 92-mph range.
But McKernan has a 5-0 record and an earned-run average of 0.72. In three seasons, his varsity record is 21-2. He struck out 16 Wednesday in a 2-0 victory over Fountain Valley Los Amigos.
*
Westlake High Coach Chuck Berrington is beaming these days not only because his team is off to an 8-2 start, but also because four of his former shortstops are starting at the collegiate level--Kevin Howard at Miami, Scott Dragicevich at Stanford, Jeff Dragicevich at California and Ryan McCarthy at UCLA. And he has a promising sophomore shortstop in Kyle Brockett.
*
Los Angeles Loyola High football players are participating in 6 a.m. weight-training sessions, and college coaches might want to take a look at 6-foot-6, 235-pound defensive end Mike Horgan. He’s a former hockey player who started playing football only two years ago. He broke his leg last season, forcing him to miss four games, but he projects as a senior standout.
Defensive back Randy Estes, one of the top sophomore football players at Long Beach Poly, has transferred to Los Alamitos.
*
The Fauria brothers are on the move. Lance Fauria, football coach at Santa Maria St. Joseph for three years, has resigned to become a high school coach in Kerrville, Texas. Younger brother Christian, a tight end at Encino Crespi High who played seven years with the Seattle Seahawks, has signed with the New England Patriots.
*
Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
