Richard Cornejo has coached a lot of softball. He has coached Righetti teams for 30 years.

He has also seen a lot of travel ball softball.

“In the 1980s we had one travel ball team here, the Orcutt Express, and it won a national championship,” he said.

“At that time all the best players were playing on one team. There was no conflict. Now there are so many teams it can create a conflict.”

The upside of travel ball for Cornejo is, “It's getting more girls involved. A lot of girls are playing for these programs and they're more visible. You have to have summer ball because of the exposure tournaments. College coaches will be at the summer tournaments,” which are a big recruiting tool for them.

A downside? There are so many travel ball teams now, “It's too watered down,” said Cornejo. “I understand trying to get more players to play. I don't think we're seeing the best caliber like you did before.

“We're too small an area to compete against the Fresno area (travel teams) and especially against Orange County.”

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In fact, some of Cornejo's best players played for travel teams from out of the area.

“Jocelyn Forest played for the San Jose Sharks,” Cornejo said. “Jenna Maiden played for the Fresno Force. Heather Compton played for the California Raiders in Orange County.”

Forest pitched Cal to a College World Series championship. Maiden is having a solid pitching career at Cal Poly.

Now many of the area's best high school players play for the Oxnard-based California Waves Under 18 Gold team.

“Gold is the premier division,” said Cornejo. “They're playing teams in the upper divisions and that makes a big difference.”

Two more veteran area softball coaches weighed in on travel ball. Greg Guerrero has coached at St. Joseph for 16 years. Mia Ituralde has coached at Santa Maria “on-and-off” for 20, she said with a chuckle.

Guerrero said, “I got involved in travel ball more than 25 years ago. It was big back then. When the Orcutt Express first came on the scene, it was big. The Orcutt Express organization really brought attention to the Central Coast.

“I coached the 1998-99 Orcutt Express Under 10 team that finished fourth in the nation. Brooke Brockett was one of the players we had.” Brockett was a Santa Maria Times All-Area MVP as a fireballing left-handed pitcher for Cabrillo High School. She did not play college ball.

As Cornejo did, Guerrero said times have changed. A lot.

“The Orcutt Express was the only travel ball team in the area back then,” said Guerrero. “Now there's a travel ball team in every corner.

“There are so many teams it really dilutes the talent. It gives more kids a chance to play, though.”

Cornejo said that parents' egos have an effect on the travel team glut. “Some parents want more exposure for their child and they'll go off and start their own team,” he said.

Ituralde said, “Once our (high school) season's over I don't know a lot about it. I do think (travel ball's) a good avenue for some of the kids to try to go on to the collegiate level.”

Cornejo, Guerrero and Ituralde all said travel ball is the ticket to college ball for a lot of players. Just how many players can afford to use travel ball as a launching pad to college ball is another matter.

Are promising players priced out of the system? “Absolutely, I think that's the case,” said Ituralde. “There are a lot of situations where I don't think there are enough opportunities for kids from middle or lower income families.

“It can be a thousand to two thousand dollars a summer for travel ball. When I was growing up I played travel ball. There were a lot of companies that would come in and sponsor a whole program.

“It's not easy to get companies to do that anymore. You have to go out and get sponsorships because things are a lot more expensive.

Ituralde said, “I would love to see a lot of my kids come out for travel ball. I would like to see more scholarships for kids who can't afford travel ball. I think there are a lot of kids out there who could play travel ball but don't,” because they can't afford it.

“I can (think of) a handful of kids from my program who have ever played travel ball. Travel ball in softball is the same as traveling basketball - it's just a huge expense.”

Cornejo said, “I'm sure a lot of girls who would like to play on travel ball teams can't afford it. You're looking at traveling every weekend. Teams like the Orange County Bat Busters used to come to Santa Maria for tournaments, but they just don't anymore.

“You had ASA at one time. Now you have ASA, Little League, softball. You used to have one set of nationals. Now you have the Western Nationals, the Eastern Nationals.

“A lot of it has to do with money. It's the same thing with the CIF (Southern Section). There used to be four (softball) divisions. Now it's seven. You used to have seven divisions in basketball. Now it's 10. There used to be four classifications in football. Now there's 12.

“With CIF, like ASA, the more championships you have the more money you can make. There are eight leagues in Division I. There are 13 leagues in Division II. It's not due to more schools. I think they need more money.

“I would take (softball) teams from the ‘80s from Righetti, (Irvine) Woodbridge and (Santa Ana) Mater Dei against any team from the ‘90s and 2000s.”

Cornejo had all he could do to scrape together a team this past season. “I lost two players to injury for the season. I lost four for three-to-five weeks. Hailey Davis pulled a hip flexor muscle. She was able to play, but she wasn't able to pitch.”

Hailey Davis is Tracy Davis' daughter. Tracy Davis has been Righetti's golf coach and a long-time assistant softball coach. As Tracy Compton, she was a dominant pitcher at Righetti and then at UCLA.

Cornejo said, “I've had more injuries the last five years than I've ever had before. Mike Candrea, the coach at Arizona who coached the Olympic team, said at the National Coaches Convention that he saw girls playing all year and then get injuries. He saw girls get injured in the summer and then never take time to heal in the fall.“

Candrea's Arizona teams have won eight NCAA Division I Women's World Series championships. He guided the U.S. squad to its third Olympic gold medal at the Athens games in 2004. His wife Sue Ellen passed away suddenly a month before the games began. His players carried him off the field after the gold medal game.

Cornejo and Ituralde said youngsters simply need to take a break.

“I think some kids get burned out if they play year-round,” Ituralde said. “Pick fall ball or summer ball. Don't pick both. That's a long time without a break.”

Cornejo said, “Kids are driving to Oxnard for practice two hours one way. As far as fall ball goes, players need to keep busy but they need to take a break.”

Cornejo knows specialization well. “I have girls who play softball all year now, not athletes playing volleyball, basketball, softball like I used to. Everyone wants to play one sport.

“I tell my kids that as freshmen and sophomores they need to play as many sports as possible. When they're juniors they can decide to commit to a particular sport.”

Sports writer Kenny Cress can be reached at 739-2237 or by e-mail to kcress@santamariatimes.com

August 9, 2008