Baseball the U-Hi way

Don Ressa arrived at University High School to coach baseball three decades ago. Over the years he learned how to build and organize a successful baseball operation, an operation that still produces quality players and quality teams.

“One of the greatest compliments you can get as a coach is to, first of all, have your former players come back and talk to you,” Ressa said. “But above that, to have them come back and tell you that they want to go into teaching and become a coach themselves.”

That compliment, in a nutshell, has been the key to Ressa’s success – and the key to the University American Legion operation’s success as well.

This summer, the U-Hi program was represented in all three Legion state tournaments for the second consecutive season. The AAA Bandits and the Titan AA teams both bowed out of their respective state tournaments after just two games. The A1 team, coached by U-Hi alum and assistant freshman coach Tim Brandle, lasted four games in their tournament at University.

Of the four Legion teams, only AA coach Josh Nichols did not play for Ressa. He is, however, University’s head junior varsity coach.

“We like to give Josh a hard time because he played ball at Central Valley,” said Scott Sutherland, a longtime Ressa assistant coach who took over as the school’s head coach two seasons ago. “We’re always telling him that he’s pretty good, for a CV guy.”

Ken VanSickle returned to the school a year after graduating to help coach both the junior varsity and AA Legion teams. Aaron LaPlante took over as head coach of the A2 Legion team – a squad made up of freshmen-to-be – tasked with indoctrinating the youngsters into playing baseball the U-Hi way.

Joining Brandle on the A1 team this season was Mike Conrad, a teammate of VanSickle.

“Mike and Kenny both came back to me and told me that they want to go into education and they both want to coach baseball,” Ressa said. “That makes me feel very proud.”

Sutherland, Ressa and varsity assistant coach Rob Bartlett all took the summer off, but the influence of all three was felt throughout the program.

“We all got to watch all of our teams play this year,” Sutherland said. “When I coach one of our teams, I don’t get the chance to see any of the others play. This season I’ve had a chance to work with them all.”

Same with Ressa.

The longtime pitching guru was just a phone call away for any of the programs hurlers.

“I’d get calls all the time from kids asking me to come out and watch them pitch a game and then talk with them afterward,” he said, “or they’d ask me to come out and work with them, and I’d show up with a catcher, and we’d work on their mechanics in the bullpen.”

Long a disciple of major league pitching coach Tom House, Ressa said he keeps learning the craft.

“Billy Moon went down to a big baseball camp in California, and when he came back we sat down and talked about what they’d showed him and how they’d worked with their pitchers,” he said. “I came away with three or four things that we can use and will use.

“That’s one thing about baseball coaches: We’re all thieves. If someone is doing something that works, we’ll steal it and put it to work for us.”

Bartlett, too, was on call to help with hitters.

“About five of the guys from the Bandits called Rob the week before the state tournament and asked him to come out and work with them to help fine-tune their hitting,” Ressa explained. “For three nights in a row, he went out with them for 90 minutes and worked with them in the cage.

“I have a lot of faith in Rob. I think he understands the mechanics of hitting a baseball as well as anyone and he knows how to teach it to young players.”

Sutherland said he was particularly impressed with three players this summer.

John Rapose made the U-Hi varsity as a freshman, but did not make the pitching-rich roster of the AAA Bandits. Instead, he put up outstanding numbers in AA, leading that team to the state tournament.

Sophomore-to-be Nick Motsinger was called up from the A1 team to play shortstop at AA.

“He did a great job for the AA team,” Sutherland said. “He really solidified that infield and batted .400 for them. He did a great job.”

Pitcher Kramer LaVoie entered the summer league season hoping to make the AA roster. When that didn’t happen, Sutherland said, he turned out to pitch the A1 team into the state tournament.

“Don and I were just talking about next year and how tough it’s going to be for players to earn a starting spot on the varsity,” Sutherland said.

The thing that put a smile on the head coach’s face and explains the program in a nutshell, Sutherland said, happened after both the Bandits and AA Titans were eliminated from their respective state tournaments.

“They came home, they licked their wounds and started thinking about next year, sure,” he said. “And then they all came out on their own to root on the A1 team at state. At U-Hi, we’re all one big family, and we all root for each other.”