CIF Division 1 coach of the year John Weber says it was ‘a great day to be a Centurion’

Cypress coach John Weber led his team to the CIF Division 1 title. (File photo Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

Cypress baseball coach John Weber will always remember the 2019 season and that one special day when the Centurions captured their first CIF Division 1 baseball title with a 2-0 victory over Harvard Westlake at Dodger Stadium.

“It was just a great day to be a Centurion,” Weber said before the recent Ryan Lemmon Showcase at the Great Park Baseball Stadium.

The honors have been rolling in for the Centurions. Cameron Repetti was named the CIF Division 1 player of the year and was also selected the Cypress MVP. Teammate Brett Wozniak was named All-CIF first team and also selected the Centurions’ pitcher of the year.

The team’s defensive player of the year was Michael Marsh. Ben James and Tyler Chaffee received the coach’s awards.

Weber, who this year celebrated his 300th career coaching victory, was named CIF Division 1 coach of the year.

Weber has been trying to reflect on what his squad accomplished in the past few weeks.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Weber said. “We won on Saturday night, we had our banquet on Sunday, I had nothing prepared for that.

“Then we had school on Monday, a short day on Tuesday and Wednesday and my daughter graduated on Thursday, went to Palm Springs for three days with my family and then my daughter turned 18 and we had her party. I haven’t had a second to just sit down and take it all in.

“But at some point this summer, I will probably sit down and watch the game on TV and take it all in.”

There is a lot to take in. Cypress finished with a 31-3 overall record and a 16-game winning streak to capture its third CIF crown.

“It was awesome,” Weber said. “It’s great for our coaching staff, it’s great for our kids and more importantly, it’s great for our alumni. The stands were so packed and there were so many old alumns of the school. It was really rewarding for me personally to just soak in a little bit of that.

“And what a great day. Our softball team wins it, I go to that earlier and then a bunch of our baseball players are dating a bunch of the softball girls, so at the end of the game, there was a photo of my whole team and a bunch of the softball girls were there, who had just won earlier that day.”

Immediately after the game, Weber’s phone lit up with text messages.

“My AD drove home with me in the passenger seat and he was trying to clear out the 100 text messages,” Weber said. “There were over 100 text messages. There was a real outpouring but also you get so focused on answering people and thanking them for thanking you, that it’s hard to sit back and soak it in right away too. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

Among those sending well wishes was former Cypress High standout David Fletcher, now an infielder with the Angels.

“He hung out with us on Wednesday or Thursday that week with our players and gave a little talk,” Weber said. “He said, ‘you can’t let it be any bigger than it needs to be, just try to soak it in and enjoy it, you’ve busted your butts to get to this point.’

“He won in 2013 on that same field with us so it was good for him.”

Also on hand at Dodger Stadium was Weber’s family, including his wife, Gina; his son, Miles, who will be a freshman Cypress and plans to play football; daughter Mia; his mother and father, his two sisters along with nieces and nephews and many friends, including a family friend Richard Noss.

It was the second time Weber’s children have been able to see a CIF title and both of them sat in the dugout.

“It was great for them to be able to show up and it was great they came out to support me,” Weber said. “I’m grateful for that.”

Followers of the Cypress program have been on cloud nine since the team brought home the title. But Weber knows another season isn’t too far off and then, the Centurions will try and defend their title.

“When I was out in Palm Springs, I was working on next fall’s schedule,” Weber said. “It’s never ending.

“I’m excited about next year with this group and it’s something that reminds me I still want to coach when there are already people thinking that we’re not going to be, which we won’t be, as good for sure.

“It’s going to be hard to repeat that group ever. We’re going to be declining a bit because we have so many kids graduating. That motivates me a bit me even more to put the uniform back on in nine months from now and get after it and coach these kids. I’m excited about that.”

Weber has definitely found a home at Cypress and gives every indication he plans to be there for a while.

“I’ve enjoyed my time at Cypress,” Weber said. “I always thought when I left Santa Ana College in 2004 that I would never coach again and I ended up started coaching in November of 2004 and I ended up taking the job in 2006. I told my wife it would be five years and here we are just finishing our 14th year.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com