More state baseball coaches of the year

State Medium Schools Coach of the Year Paul Martinez of Oakmont, Roseville, talks to one of the other coaches during a game this season. Photo: Allene Salerno / Sacramento Bee.

In addition to Corrigan Willis of Granada of Livermore, overall state coach of the year, we have additional state coaching honors for the 2024 season for Paul Martinez of Oakmont of Roseville (middle schools) and Scott Neal of Chavez of Delano (small schools).

FOR MORE ON STATE COACH OF THE YEAR CORRIGAN WILLIS, CLICK HERE.

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MIDDLE SCHOOLS STATE
COACH OF THE YEAR
Paul Martínez (Oakmont, Roseville)

The accolades have been coming fast and furious for the longtime Sacramento area coach, who has been at Oakmont since 2014 after previous baseball coaching stints at Rosemont of Sacramento and Del Campo of Fair Oaks.

The past two seasons have been extra special for the Vikings and Martinez. After winning a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D4 title in 2023, the team took it one step further in 2024. The Vikings, who lost to Central Catholic of Modesto in last year’s CIF NorCal D3 championship, defeated the Raiders in this year’s D3 sectional. finals and defeated them again to win the CIF NorCal D3 crown. The final record of 30-7, including victories over several large school programs, led to Oakmont being named the Medium Schools State Team of the Year.

Martinez has already been selected as the Sacramento Bee All-Metro Coach of the Year, the West Coast Preps Sacramento Coach of the Year and this comes one year after he was inducted into the California Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He now adds the State Medium Schools Coach of the Year award to his resume. He is the first from the SJS to receive the honor since Rich Henning of Christian Brothers of Sacramento in 2017. The only other SJS winner since the honor began in 1998 was Hondo Arpoika of Oakdale in 2008.

While at Rosemont and Del Campo, Martinez also managed to win a sectional title. The Sacramento Bee reported that he is the first in section history with three section titles from three different programs. He has also been involved in educational athletics for 29 years and is the father of Antelope High athletic director Jordan Martinez and Sierra College head softball coach Taylor Martinez.

This year’s Oakmont squad featured highly regarded junior pitcher Trevor Wilson, who finished 10-1 with an ERA of 0.92. The top hitter was junior Tony Lira, who had seven home runs, 31 RBI and a .404 batting average.

The one fact about Paul’s biography that shocked us most is that he graduated from La Sierra High in Carmichael in 1983. That’s a school that closed the next year, but six years earlier, Cal-Hi Sports editor Mark Tennis made his high school senior walk for the same school.

So from one former Longhorn to another former Longhorn, congratulations on a job well done.

Final 14 State High School Coaches of the Year: 2023 – Matt Mowry (Lake Balboa Birmingham); 2022 – Tony Nieto (Las Flores Tesoro); 2021 – Daniel Maye (Simi Valley Royal); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Pat Fuentes (Los Baños); 2018 – Ken Arnerich (Alameda); 2017 – Rich Henning (Christian Brothers, Sacramento); 2016 – Jeff Baumback (Redondo Beach Redondo Union); 2015 – Mike Mitchell (El Cajon Christian); 2014 – Ollie Turner (Torrance); 2013 – Wilmer Aaron (Gardena Serra); 2012 – Steve Vickery (Lakeside El Capitan); 2011 – Gary Remiker (San Diego Catholic Cathedral); 2010 – Rich Sciutto (Burlingame); 2009 – Bob Anderson (Lake Shasta Central Valley).

Scott Neal can now count three CIF Central Section titles with Delano’s Chavez. His team also won a CIF SoCal regional crown this season. Photo: djuhsd.org.

SMALL SCHOOL STATE
COACH OF THE YEAR
Scott Neal (Chavez, Delano)

Neal and the Titans played spoilers for a feel good story in Southern California with their 8-6 win in nine innings over Azusa in the CIF SoCal D5 Regional Championship. That school hadn’t won a CIF Southern Section title since 1983 before coming through this season and was looking to add its first regional title.

For Neal, it had already happened twice in his career to win the last game of the season with a section title. While he was head coach at Chavez from 2006 to 2018, the Titans earned CIF Central Section titles in 2015 and 2016. He resumed coaching the baseball team last season and is also chairman of Chavez High’s physical education department. Neal’s team won the Central Section D6 title this year with a 1-0 victory over Lindsay.

In the regional final, Azusa recovered from a 4-1 deficit to tie the score at 6-6 with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. In the top of the ninth, Miguel Ramirez and Jose Agredano had RBI singles for an 8-6 lead. Azusa went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

When the SoCal D5 bracket began, Chavez (22-12-1) was the No. 8 seed. But wins against South El Monte and Shafter, both of which, like the championship, were won in extra innings – 2-1 in eight innings and 4-2 in eight innings – put the Titans in the finals. In fact, Neal and the Titans had to somehow figure out how to score a point in a 1-0 victory in the sectional playoff quarterfinals against California City, where one of the reported strikeout leaders state, Blake Moore, struck out. 17 batters in that game.

Neal and his coaching staff were able to right the ship after a period in which the team lost six of seven games. The Titans finished on a 14-game winning streak, winning all the close games after losing in close games early.

The CIF Central Section’s last State Small Schools Coach of the Year was Jay Preuss of Kerman in 2014. The only other honoree from the section since the first selection year in 2000 was Bill Feaver of Fowler for 2001.

“I put a lot of work into it, people put a lot of work into our program to build it up to what it is,” Neal said in a TV interview on KBAK after the team’s regional win over Shafter. “Now it’s getting recognition and it’s kind of satisfying.”

Final 14 State Small School Coaches of the Year: 2023 – Stewart Peterson (Sutter); 2022 – Kurt Takahashi (Sacramento Bradshaw Christian); 2021 – Eric Lay (Colusa); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Greg Mugg (Sunnyvale The King’s Academy); 2018 – Mack Paciorek (Pasadena Poly); 2017 – Jim Cleveland (San Lorenzo Redwood Christian); 2016 – Troy Ghisetti (Arcata); 2015 – Nelson Randolph (Sacramento Capital Christian); 2014 – Jay Preuss (Kerman); 2013 – Gil Ruiz (Pacific Grove); 2012 – Greg Largent (Escalon); 2011 – Craig Schoof (Atherton Menlo School); 2010 – Glen Prater (Riverside Woodcrest Christian); 2009 – Brad Gunter (Roseville Valley Christian).