El Segundo Coach Out Indefinitely After Heart Attack

Craig Cousins has been asked the question almost nonstop since he learned the disturbing news late Saturday night: How is John Stevenson?

Naturally, everyone is concerned about the El Segundo High baseball coach, who was hospitalized after suffering a moderate heart attack Friday.

“He’s going to be OK,” said Cousins, an assistant who has taken over as head coach in Stevenson’s absence. “He’s more embarrassed than anything. Of course, he’s all worried about the team.”

That sounds just like Stevenson. His devotion and sense of duty have been the driving forces behind the program’s continued excellence since his first season as El Segundo’s coach in 1960. He is the state’s winningest baseball coach with a 32-year record of 681-251. His teams have won six Southern Section titles and reached the 2-A Division final each of the past two seasons, winning the championship in 1989.

But whether he likes it or not (and you know he won’t), Stevenson, 57, will have to take it easy for a while.

He underwent tests Wednesday at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood to determine the severity of his heart attack and will be out of school indefinitely, Cousins said.

“He could be out of the hospital as early as Saturday morning, or he could have bypass surgery in a worse-case scenario,” Cousins said.

Cousins, who has also assumed Stevenson’s duties as athletic director, said Stevenson experienced chest pains Friday night at a restaurant and went to the emergency room at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey. After an electrocardiogram test proved inconclusive, he was released and went home.

When the pain persisted Saturday, Stevenson checked himself back into the hospital, Cousins said.

“He said the pain was a three on a scale of 10, but it wouldn’t go away,” Cousins said.

Further tests revealed that there was some degree of damage to the heart. Cousins said Stevenson had no previous heart problem but was on medication to control high blood pressure.

El Segundo’s players were informed of Stevenson’s heart attack before their nonleague game Saturday night against visiting Lompoc, a game Cousins also missed because he was attending a wedding. Assistant coach Greg McMullin and junior varsity coach Dave Chauncey coached the Eagles, who lost, 7-1.

Cousins said the players were down Saturday night but their spirits have picked up since visiting Stevenson in the hospital.

“The players were worried that he wasn’t going to be around,” Cousins said. “When they hear the word, ‘heart attack,’ they think it’s so final. But I think they have accepted that he is going to be back as soon as possible.”

Until Stevenson returns, the team will be coached by Cousins, an El Segundo assistant for 17 seasons. The Eagles, ranked third in the 3-A Division, are one of the favorites to win a section title.

Don’t assume, however, that Cousins has been waiting for the day when he could become coach.

“I never wanted the job,” he said. “If I wanted to be a head coach, I would have gone somewhere else.”

Even worse, he said, is serving as interim athletic director.

“I don’t know how John does it,” Cousins said. “They have meetings upon meetings. It’s like their whole life.”

Never without an opinion, Cousins said serving as head coach will be good in one respect: “I’ll see if I know anything. I always talk like I do.”

Chadwick baseball Coach Jim Drennen rates this the best Dolphin team since 1987, the year they reached the Southern Section Small Schools Division title game, losing to Templeton, 6-3.

“I think this is probably the strongest team overall,” he said. “We’ve been able to swing the bat really well.”

One of the guiding forces behind Chadwick’s successful season--the Dolphins are 13-4 overall and tied for first in the Prep League with an 8-3 record--has been junior shortstop Chris Gordon.

Regarded as the best all-around athlete in the school, Gordon entered this week batting .483 (29 for 60) with a team-leading six home runs and 18 stolen bases in 18 attempts. He added two hits and three steals to his totals Tuesday in a 7-1 league victory over Webb of Claremont.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Gordon was the top scorer for Chadwick’s basketball team as a sophomore, but chose to play soccer instead of basketball this past winter. As a defender, he was named All-CIF and helped the Dolphins reach the Southern Section quarterfinals.

Drennen says Gordon has the potential to play either baseball or soccer on the college level.

“He’s really an incredible athlete,” Drennen said. “He thinks baseball is his best sport, but his soccer coach says he could be a Division I soccer player if he wants to.”

Others who have contributed to Chadwick’s successful baseball season are catcher Todd Seneker, who entered this week batting .574 with five home runs and a team-leading 21 runs batted in, center fielder Mark Bailey (.500, 20 steals in 21 attempts) and pitcher Mac McKinney (7-1, 2.50 earned-run average, 48 strikeouts in 51 innings).

Drennen says if the Dolphins can overcome their defensive weaknesses, they could make a run at the Small Schools Division title. The playoffs start next week.

“I hope when the playoffs start, we can catch the ball a little better,” he said. “The defense has had lapses, but we’re young. We only lose three starters.”

The long, storied athletic rivalry between Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills will draw to a close at 3 p.m. Friday, when the schools meet in an Ocean League baseball game at Rolling Hills. A barbecue costing $4 per person will follow at about 5.

The two schools, along with Miraleste, will consolidate next fall to form Palos Verdes Peninsula High on the Rolling Hills campus.

Notes

Hitting tear: Entering Wednesday’s game against Bosco Tech, Serra outfielder Dwon Knighten had batted 14 for 15 in his last four games to raise his average to .656 (42 for 64), best in the South Bay. He also stole 11 bases, giving him an area-leading total of 45. Despite Knighten’s efforts, though, Serra was only able to win one of four games.

Ocean League champion Mira Costa, led by UCLA-bound outside hitter Mark Shoptaw, will begin defense of its Southern Section 4-A Division volleyball title Friday night when it plays host to Rio Mesa of Oxnard in the first round of the 32-team divisional playoffs. If Mira Costa wins, it most likely will face fourth-seeded Edison of Huntington Beach in the second round Tuesday in a rematch of last season’s 4-A final. Edison opens the playoffs against Redondo, an at-large entry from the Ocean League.

Two South Bay swimmers will be out to defend their titles this week in the Southern Section championships at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach. Deborah Kory of Rolling Hills is the defending 3-A Division champion in the 100 butterfly (58.15) and 100 breaststroke (1:06.19) and Jessica Tong of Chadwick is the defending 2-A champion in the 50 (24.04) and 100 freestyle (51.68). The 3-A prelims are at 6 tonight, with the 2-A prelims at noon Friday. The 2-A finals are noon Saturday, followed by the 3-A finals at 7.

Elisabeth Patterson of Serrano High in Phelan has been named the California winner of the Walt Disney World “Doer and Dreamer” award, which recognizes students for their participation in interscholastic activity programs. Diane Wright, a Miraleste junior, was one of 10 finalists.

Armando Cervantes and Ralph Avila each had two hits and drove in two runs Tuesday as Narbonne clinched the Southern League baseball title with a 5-1 victory over host Dorsey. It is Narbonne’s first league title since 1978. The Gauchos, who hope to be seeded No. 1 for the L.A. City 3-A playoffs, improved to 17-7 overall and 11-5 in league play.

South Bay’s Baseball Top 10 Selected by Times Sportswriters Through Tuesday’s Games

Rank, School, League Record 1 El Segundo (San Fernando) 22-4 2 Banning (Pacific) 17-5 3 Torrance (Pioneer) 18-5 4 Rolling Hills (Ocean) 13-6-1 5 West Torrance (Pioneer) 17-7 6 Narbonne (Southern) 17-7 7 St. Bernard (Mission) 12-8-1 8 San Pedro (Pacific) 14-6 9 South Torrance (Pioneer) 13-9 10 Redondo (Ocean) 15-9