Casa Grande baseball coach gets 400th win

Gauchos earn 400th win for their baseball coach.|

When the Casa Grande High School baseball team beat Rancho Cotate, 11-1, last week it was just another win for Gaucho head coach Paul Maytorena, just another step toward another championship.

But as planners like to say, the cumulative impacts were significant - in Maytorena’s case, they were enormous. The win was the 400th since he became head coach during the 1997-1998 season.

As he did with each century mark along the way, the coach downplayed the significance.

“There were a few losses in there, too,” he said. “You usually remember the losses the most.”

The coach gave full credit to those who did the work in the dirt and on the grass. “A lot of great players are responsible for that number,” he said.

He also credited his coaches for the success of the Casa program. “Consistent leadership is the key. I’ve had some great coaches who have been with me a long time. They are all off-campus coaches, and that’s not easy. It takes an extra effort.”

He said his goal every year is the same. “There is nothing better than winning the last game of the season,” he explained. That, of course, only happens when you win a North Coast Section championship. It has happened to Maytorena-coached teams six times.

But for all the numbers, all the wins and all the championships, baseball to Maytorena is a personal thing.

“The great thing is when you see the players come back and feel like you were part of them becoming responsible, successful adults,” he said.

“Coaching is teaching life through baseball. In life you are going to get a lot of bad hops. It how you handle them that counts. I try to teach the players that life’s lesson.

“Through the years the players have given me a lot more than I’ve given them.”

Maytorena’s overall record as head coach is 401 wins, 135 losses. In addition to the six North Coast Section championships, his teams have won 11 Sonoma County League championships and three North Bay League titles.

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