Veteran baseball coach Wesley Shaw was ready for a new challenge at University

New University High School baseball coach Wesley Shaw after Wednesday’s PCL game. (Photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

University High School’s new varsity baseball coach, Wesley Shaw, is a 75-year-old former college coach who wanted a change.

He seems to have found a new home at University. It also looks like he’s connected with the younger players he coaches, many who stopped to shake his hand as they left the field after a game with Woodbridge Wednesday.

The sport of baseball, it seems, has bridged what could be a generational gap between coach and players and the program has made progress. University has started 5-3-1 overall and earned the No. 4 ranking in this week’s CIF Division 5 poll.

“It’s been a learning experience and it’s been really positive,” Shaw said this week. “This is my first year here and I’m really impressed with the baseball IQ these kids have.”

Shaw was hired before school started “but I didn’t come on campus until three weeks after school started,” Shaw said. “I have a ranch in Oklahoma and I have cattle to worry about. We started in September and we’ve been after it ever since.”

Athletic Director Tom Shrake praised the way Shaw has handled the team.

“Coach Shaw has been doing a great job leading our baseball program,” Shrake said. “He comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and baseball experience.  He has coached at the high school, college and professional levels and has found success at each level.  He has also previously worked at high schools and colleges that required students to balance rigorous academics with competitive athletics.  Coach Shaw recognizes the importance of being a student first.”

Shaw coached at Sunny Hills High School before taking the University job. He also coached 30 years at University of Oklahoma and Missouri and University of Tulsa.

He wound up at Sunny Hills as an assistant coach. Officials wanted him to teach full-time and continue coaching.

“I needed a change …. I’m 75 years old and I haven’t taught for four or five years. This opportunity came up and I’m really glad I did.”

Shaw said he’s proud of improvements, including a new turf and infield in the Trojans on-campus facility and the players have “brand-new uniforms.”

“It’s about instilling the confidence these kids need, I guess they needed a different voice,” he said. “I don’t know if they will listen to an old man or not.”

It appears Shaw has the players’ attention and he has the support of the Universty baseball parents.

“As of yesterday, we were ranked fourth in our division and we were 42nd in the state out of over 900 teams and they were 8-20 last year,” Shaw said.

But he added:

“As my dad said, ‘let’s not confuse the efforts with the results.'”

Shaw remained upbeat after the Trojans lost to league-leading Woodbridge 4-0 in a PCL game Wednesday. He praised the play of Woodbridge and pitcher Matt Kuromoto, who had his second shutout. Woodbridge also won Thursday’s game over Uni 5-2.

“We match up with them, I’m not backing down against anybody,” Shaw said after Wednesday’s loss. “We will show up every game.”

University, which is 2-3-1 in PCL play, had three starters out Wednesday due to illness, according to Shaw and other factors weigh in.

“On our campus as far as being highly academic, that’s a challenge too,” Shaw said. “But I was a Division 1 college coach for 30 years and I was at some really good academic schools so this is nothing new. I understand these guys are student athletes, students first and athletes second, but these kids have so many different balls they’re juggling. We got guys in band, debate, engineering and robotics.”

Players at Wednesday’s game seemed to look up to Shaw and welcome his calm demeanor.

“During our reference checks an administrator at one of his former schools described his players as having an intense loyalty to him,” Shrake, the AD, added. “His high standards on the field, high expectations for the classroom, and his experience and work ethic made him an obvious choice to be our head coach.  We are lucky to have him.”

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