Davis softball team welcomes new coach Guerra
It really is a whole new ball game for the Davis High softball program — and especially for new coach Art Guerra.
Guerra, hired last year after George Meagher stepped down after two successful seasons, comes to the Blue Devils from Natomas High.
In six seasons at the Nitehawk helm, Guerra’s economically and socially challenged teams went 14-116 — one less win than DHS had last season (15-10) alone.
“Let’s just be honest,” the personable 54-year-old grandfather of eight told The Enterprise. “At Natomas, we had no pitching. At Natomas, the girls may have wanted to do it, but they had no resources.”
Missing in Guerra’s previous gig were feeder programs like the Davis Lady Demons. The coach pointed to rosters filled with players from troubled backgrounds or with no previous athletic experience as part of the puzzle that never quite fit together.
“We had so many girls from broken homes … and I don’t mean that in any derogatory way,” Guerra explains. “But at times I felt like I was more like their dad … more than a coach.”
Guerra, who worked for DHS athletic director Dennis Foster when Foster held the same position at Natomas, is delighted to be back with his old friend and has been impressed with the welcome he’s already received.
“The reception has been absolutely wonderful,” Guerra says. “I’ve been a month here and the biggest thing I’ve noticed is the kids want to be athletes. They want to play softball, work hard … they want to win.”
Guerra has spent much of January in conditioning and running his girls through any workouts that CIF will allow. He says he’s loving getting to know his new team and sends kudos to junior varsity coach Gary Bernauer and retained varsity assistants Dave Reuben and Keirith Briesenick.
“They are just great and I’m lucky to have them. I am really excited to get Dave back,” Guerra continues. “He’s really helped with the transition. We spent a lot of time together in November and December.”
As Guerra continues to acclimate to the support of the Davis community and the ability of his incoming Blue Devils — which won two playoff games a year ago — he was happy to get tryouts going in earnest on Monday.
“I can feel it. I’m dealing with a family-oriented community,” Guerra explained. “I always told Dennis when he left Natomas, I would be more than willing to go with him. Still, when it happened, I had to think about it.”
Guerra’s Nitehawks, all things considered, were starting to play better.
Nine wins in the past two seasons were big steps ahead. Guerra says he had girls on his last team that could form the nucleus of “a decent team in the future” and he asked one family of a returning player what they thought about him moving on. Coach says they said “Go for it.”
“It was still tough,” Guerra said, adding that even if the record didn’t reveal it: “We accomplished some good things there.”
Now it’s time for the new coach to work on getting DHS deeper in the playoffs.
“My style?” Guerra repeats the question. “I am disciplined. I want us to practice to make sure we are prepared. I don’t want to go into a game and be surprised by anything.
“Our kids will be prepared, but on the other hand, the kids will have a lot of fun.”
Notes: Guerra and his wife Vickie live in Roseville. They have three grown offspring: Kevin, 34, Stacy, 33, and Jill, 31. Guerra was a salesman at Home Depot, a job he left for the opportunity to coach 24/7 this spring at Davis. The new Devil mentor also coached Nitehawk youth football. Guerra spent almost a decade coaching junior high baseball in Cordova and has coached softball at the club level for 16 years. His dad was a high school football and basketball coach. … DHS will host a two-day tournament March 2 and 3 and entertains Gullivar of Miami on March 10. Gullivar was the sixth-ranked prep softball team in the USA a year ago.
— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at bgallaudet@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8047. View galleries or purchase prints of Blue Devil sports photos at http://davisenterprise.zenfolio.com
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Posted by Bruce Gallaudet
on Feb 6 2012.
Last Login: Tue 22 May 2012 11:46:20 PM PDT
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