Ertle’s Parents Didn’t Fall Into Sports’ Trap

The biggest challenge for the mother and father of a high school athlete is deciding when to stop being fans and concentrate on being parents.

Jim and Rita Ertle were thrilled by the success of their son, Brandon, last season. He emerged as one of the best freshmen baseball players in the Southland, batting .340 and making all-league as a starting outfielder for Placentia El Dorado.

By the fall, colleges were sending him recruiting letters. Classmates recognized his face and knew his name. By December, Ertle’s devotion to baseball was affecting his grades. Two classes in which he usually got A’s or B’s had dropped to a C and D.

His parents warned him that his grades needed to improve, and his typical response was, “I’ll bring them up.”

By January, after seeing no change, his parents intervened.

They pulled Ertle out of baseball class and switched him into a sophomore physical education class.

He had to clean out his baseball locker at school. Their message was clear: Either improve your grades or no baseball.

“We decided he needed a reality check,” Rita said. “We decided we needed to be parents.”

Ertle was unhappy with his parents’ decision and sought the support of his coach, Steve Gullotti.

“I think he thought I was going to come to his defense,” Gullotti said. “I said, ‘If you think I’m going to step in for you, you got another thing coming. Baseball is a privilege, not a right. If baseball is important to you, then you’ll do what’s needed to play.’ ”

For a month, Ertle had to leave his bat and glove at home and show up to P.E. class wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts.

“All we did was take a lap and shoot baskets,” he said. “I still had the same friends but got different looks around campus, like, ‘What are you doing in P.E.?’ ”

Even though Ertle’s grades weren’t close to making him academically ineligible, his parents knew he wasn’t working as hard as he could in the classroom.

“We just told him baseball is important, but school is the most important thing, and you have to turn it around if you want to play,” Jim said.

Added Rita: “I told Brandon, ‘I’d never forgive myself if you were a senior and couldn’t go to college.’ He wanted to handle it and tried, but there weren’t any consequences.”

Ertle said the attention and acclaim he received as a freshman might have been too much too soon.

“I loved every minute of it but might have soaked it in too much,” he said. “I realized I am a sophomore and have much to prove.”

Ertle took his parents’ concerns to heart. He did something he admitted he was afraid to do -- he asked for a tutor for his Algebra II class. His grades began to improve. After a month, he was allowed to return to baseball class.

He says now, “As much as I didn’t want it, I’m glad it was done.”

His parents receive weekly progress reports, and Ertle’s grades have improved so much that he said, “I’m shooting for a 4.0.”

Ertle’s parents recognized that they had to preserve their son’s college options by taking action rather than waiting until it was too late. As much as they enjoyed being baseball fans, their parental obligations mattered more.

They had to risk what could have been the toughest decision of all -- preventing their son from playing baseball this season if he didn’t respond.

“Let’s put it this way -- we’re glad we didn’t have to get to that point,” Jim said. “You can’t say something you’re not prepared to do.”

Added Rita: “It was the hardest thing we did.”

Ertle’s parents are back cheering and clapping at his baseball games but ready, if needed, to exercise their parental responsibilities.

Ertle is glad he has parents willing to make difficult decisions.

“I love them,” he said.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.