Prep Baseball: RB’s Blalock collects 900th career win
It’s only a number, says Sam Blalock.
But it’s a very large and significant number.
With Rancho Bernardo’s 13-2 win over Eastlake in the Classic Division of the 66th Lions Tournament on Wednesday, Blalock hit the 900-win plateau.
Only two other high school baseball coaches in California — John Stevenson (1,059) at El Segundo and Guy Anderson (927) at Rancho Cordova — have more career wins.
Only 26 coaches nationally have reached 900 wins. Many of those are in the Midwest, where summer ball is counted in a coach’s win total.
“Honestly, it’s just another number,” said Blalock, 67. “It means a lot more to other people. To me, it’s just baseball.”
The victory propelled Ranch Bernardo (7-2) into today’s semifinal at noon at Cathedral Catholic. The winner advances to the 3:30 p.m. final at Cathedral.
Tora Otsuka paced host RB on Wednesday with a three-run homer and five RBIs. Calvin Mitchell had a two-run homer for the second straight day.
Joey Magrisi pitched five strong innings for the win.
“It’s an honor to be the winning pitcher in this game,” Magrisi said. “Hopefully, people will always remember who the pitcher was when Coach Blalock won his 900th.
“Playing on a team of this caliber for a coach of this caliber feels so good. You’d never know Coach Blalock is in his 60s. He relates to the guys. He acts young.”
Blalock started his varsity coaching career in 1975 at Mt. Carmel.
After 300 wins, nine league titles and four San Diego Section championships, he left the Sundevils in 1990 to start the Rancho Bernardo program.
Overall, he has 22 league titles and 12 section championships.
Blalock’s prize pupil at Mt. Carmel was Billy Beane, who was drafted in the first round by the New York Mets in 1980. Beane is now the executive vice president of baseball operations for the Oakland A’s and one of the most-respected men in the game.
“It’s kind of scary,” Beane said. “Sam and I have been friends for more than 40 years. It reminds me of how young he was at Mt. Carmel. And really, he’s still a kid at heart. I think working with kids is what keeps him young.
“I tried to get him into college coaching. As good as he is in high school, he could have built a college team into a powerhouse. He has found a way to teach the game and have fun at the same time.”
Beane is one of nine first-round draft picks who have played for Blalock.
The others include Cole Hamels, Danny Putnam, Allan Dykstra, John Drennen, Matt Wheatland, Scott Heard, Jaime Jones and Alex Jackson.
Right-hander Drew Finley led Rancho Bernardo to the section Open Division championship last year. He finished 11-1 with a 0.81 ERA and was the winning pitcher in the title game against La Costa Canyon. Finley was drafted in the third round by the New York Yankees.
“Coach Blalock’s record speaks for itself,” Finley said by phone from the Yankees’ spring training camp in Tampa.
“Believe me, across the nation, people know Rancho Bernardo baseball. Not because of me, Billy Beane or Cole Hamels. Because of Sam Blalock.
“He has the ability to take a group of individuals and mold them into a team.
“Coach Blalock knows his stuff, but he lets his coaches coach. Mark Furtak (pitching coach) and Rick Ray (hitting coach) could be head coaches anywhere. But they stayed at RB because Coach Blalock has a plan and sticks to it.”
Furtak has been with Blalock for 27 years. Ray for more than a decade.
Juan Aukerman, who played at RB, is the freshman coach. Former Bronco Kevin How has the JV team.
“Sam and I feed off each other,” Furtak said. “We get along great, but his coaches aren’t afraid to voice an opinion.
“We’re not afraid to tell him things, to contradict him. He may not always agree, but he doesn’t want a bunch of head-nodders on his staff. That’s a major part of his success.”
Blalock also has the respect of his fellow coaches.
Just last week, Steve Vickery — who coached at Valhalla and El Capitan — fell from No. 2 to No. 3 on San Diego’s all-time win list behind Manny Hermosillo of Montgomery. Hermosillo has 651 wins, Vickery 647.
“What Sam has done is incredible,” Vickery said. “He has made every other coach in the county better. You either got better to keep up or got stepped on.
“I have a ton of respect for the guy. Not just because he’s a great coach and teacher, but because he loves what he does.
“He coaches high school players like they were in college. He coaches them to step in at the next level. That’s a great credit to him and the program he has built.”
After Blalock’s 800th win in 2013, he was asked if he’d stick around to see 900.
His answer was a quick and definitive, “No.”
Asked if he’d be around for 1,000, he was equally as cagey.
“Heck, I want to quit after every loss,” he said. “A career is just a bunch of todays.
“We’ll take it year by year and see where it goes.”
Maffei writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune