2-a baseball final : mission bay's mission: knock off powerful grossmont : championship: buccaneers might be small, but they have given pugh big returns this season.

SAN DIEGO — For advice on how to build a high school baseball program, talk to Dennis Pugh. Or better yet, don’t talk to Dennis Pugh. Just take a look at his field, watch his team and

research what has happened at Mission Bay High since Pugh took over as varsity coach in 1979. Talk to the players. Talk to their parents. They’ll tell you that Pacific Beach isn’t a pool of

talent, but the baseball field at Mission Bay is an oasis. The school has a magnet academic program, allowing freshmen and sophomores who live in the city transfer to Mission Bay to play

baseball for the Buccaneers. Mission Bay won seven City Western League championships in a row from 1983 to 1989 and section titles in 1986 and ’88. “My older brother (Tony, who now plays at

San Diego State) told me Coach Pugh was one of the top coaches around,” said catcher Jason Enomoto. “He’s right. And I saw my brother change as a player. (Pugh) shows you how to do things

right. The players like him a lot. He spends a lot of time with us one-on-one. He’s like a friend, but he keeps a distance.” Most coaches try to build winning teams with a work-hard,

have-fun approach. Pugh, however, has added another ingredient. Patience. The 1991 season is perfect testimony. Nobody expected to see the Buccaneers playing in the San Diego Section 2-A

final today against Grossmont. Eight of the 12 regulars are underclassmen. Six are 5-foot-8 or smaller and average about 155 pounds. They finished second at 8-4 in an up-and-down league

season. But at 22-8, they knocked off second-seeded San Marcos, 7-4, and Western League champ USDHS, 12-5, in the second and third rounds. “I didn’t think we’d be capable of this, to be

honest,” Pugh said. “But you never know.” The Buccaneers, who are 245-93 under Pugh, will again be the underdogs as they face top-seeded and defending-champion Grossmont (28-1) at San Diego

Jack Murphy Stadium immediately after the Padres’ 1:05 p.m. game against the Houston Astros. Pugh, however, has made playing at Mission Bay like playing in a professional atmosphere. At

home, the turf is perfect and there are no bad hops in the infield. Games are announced over a public address system. They start with Whitney Houston’s National Anthem and end with the

Buccaneers dragging and watering the infield. Parents barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs at a snack bar next to the Mission Bay dugout. “We’ve got a top-quality field,” said Enomoto, who leads

the Bucs with a .422 batting average, a .633 on-base percentage, 43 runs scored and three home runs. “I think it’s one of the top fields in the county. I’m proud to play here.” Former Padre

Eric Show worked out on Pugh’s diamond one day last winter and, sufficiently impressed by the coach’s work, donated $1,000 to the program. “I think tradition is something you don’t have to

talk about,” Pugh said. “It’s something you build over a period of time.” In Pugh’s first four seasons, the Buccaneers were 57-36 and finished third, second, fifth and third in league. Since

then, they are 188-57 with seven first-place and two second-place finishes. Mission Bay’s winning percentage under Pugh is .724. The Bucs have had six 20-victory seasons in the past seven.

Through 12 seasons, 44 Mission Bay players have gone on to play in college. So many good players have been produced that former Padre and Dodger Jay Johnstone was excluded from the Bucs’

all-time team. On paper, the Grossmont-Mission Bay matchup looks like a contest between men and midgets. Pugh will put his ace, 5-5, 135-pound junior left-hander Manny Castillo, on the mound

against the likes of Todd Cady, who finished the regular season with seven home runs and 31 RBIs. BASEBALL FINALS San Diego Section Baseball Finals At San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium 2-A (4

p.m.*) Grossmont (28-1) vs. Mission Bay (22-8). 3-A (7 p.m.*) Mira Mesa (27-4-1) vs. Montgomery (22-5-1) * Approximate times, after the 1 p.m. game between the Padres and the Houston Astros

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