Athlete of the Week: Conner leads Costa Mesa

When Grady Conner arrived at Costa Mesa High as a freshman four years ago, he wasn’t sure what to expect. The previous eight years he attended Calvary Chapel, a private school in Santa Ana.

Calvary Chapel is where Conner believed he was going to stay and play baseball. Finances, he said, got in the way of him continuing at Calvary Chapel. He wouldn’t get to play for the baseball team he followed as an eighth-grader, the same year the Eagles won the Orange Coast League title.

Since then, the Eagles haven’t finished first, but unlike Conner’s current team, they have been in contention. This year, Calvary Chapel is undefeated through four league games, and when league play resumes next week, Conner will face his former school twice.

Calvary Chapel is aware these Mustangs aren’t the same Mustangs they have been beating on the previous three years. Conner has helped changed Costa Mesa’s identity.

No longer are the Mustangs a sure win for opponents. Conner, a center fielder bound for Vanguard University, has turned things around for the Mustangs in his senior year.

Conner led Costa Mesa to three wins last week, two in league play and one in the Santa Ana Elks Tournament. He went four for eight with eight runs batted in, a triple, a double, six runs and six stolen bases during the three-game stretch

Those three victories have contributed to the Mustangs surpassing last year’s overall win total of four. Through 17 games, Costa Mesa has six wins.

Ten more games remain in the regular season, giving Conner hope that this is the year he and the Mustangs qualify for the CIF Southern Section Division playoffs for the first time in six years.

The Mustangs, who are 2-3 in league, are one win away from matching their win total in league from last season. They haven’t won more than three league games in each of the last three seasons Conner has been on team.

“He has been a big part of the effort to change things and build a winning culture,” Costa Mesa Coach Paul Grady said. “He works hard and he plays hard. He’s a good teammate and a natural leader.”

Grady has been with Conner since the first day. His inaugural season in charge of the Mustangs started during Conner’s freshman year. Grady was familiar with the program, having played for the Mustangs before graduating in 1988 and coached the Mustangs as an assistant one year in the late 1990s and one year in the early 2000s.

The program Grady inherited went 4-20 overall and dead last in league at 2-13 in 2012. In his debut season with Conner, the Mustangs won two more overall games and one more in league. They improved a game in Conner’s sophomore year, before going 4-21 last year.

The struggles are something Conner wasn’t expecting. He has persevered, along with Grady and the team’s two other seniors, Ryan Lether and James Barton, who have come up through the program as freshmen.

“We’ve figured out how to play the game right and how to win,” said Conner, a two-time first-team all-league selection who is hitting .422 with one home run, 17 RBIs and seven doubles. “When we play correctly and guys are doing what they’re supposed to do, it makes everyone’s job a lot easier.”

The addition of two transfers, junior Dylan Schafer and sophomore Ty Muir, Conner said has also benefited the Mustangs. Schafer, from Huntington Beach, is a leadoff hitter and plays right field, and Muir, from Newport Harbor, is a second baseman.

The two made their debut with the Mustangs on Monday. Next week is their second, and it’s going to be a huge one with two games with Calvary Chapel, which is atop the league with defending league champion Laguna Beach.

The Mustangs are in fourth place. A win on Tuesday and Friday against Conner’s former school, and Costa Mesa could make things interesting.

“After that first game [in league on March 18], a few of the players that I know on Calvary Chapel’s team were shocked because they weren’t expecting that level of play from us,” said Conner, whose team wound up losing the league opener, 7-3, at home. “It was good for us, it was a confidence booster. Going into next week we know we are able to compete with them.”

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Grady Conner

Born: June 16, 1998

Hometown: Costa Mesa

Height: 5-foot-9

Weight: 160 pounds

Sport: Baseball

Year: Senior

Coach: Paul Grady

Favorite food: Hamburger from In-N-Out Burger

Favorite movie: “The Sandlot”

Favorite athletic moment: “Making first-team all-league my sophomore year.”

Week in review: Conner led the Mustangs to three wins, two in Orange Coast League play and in the opening game of the Santa Ana Elks Tournament. He went four for eight with eight runs batted in, a triple, a double, six runs and six stolen bases.