Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week -- Steven Shores: Finishing the job

Barry Faulkner

Steven Shores sees it coming. Like a runner barreling in on him to

break up a double play, the Costa Mesa High senior second baseman senses

an end to his time on the diamond.

The captain of the Mustangs, who play Bonita Friday in a CIF Southern

Section Division IV quarterfinal, Shores knows full well the next loss

will end his team’s season and likely his career.

He has not given up hope of hooking on at Orange Coast College next

spring and, as his coach and teammates would attest, no one will work

harder to extract every ounce of potential.

But he knows the game too well to believe he will ever fulfill his

childhood prophecy that one day he would play professionally. He won’t

say as much, but one gets the feeling he believes any collegiate at-bats

are merely icing on his competitive cake.

So, for now, he continues to take his metal bat to the ever-closing

window of athletic opportunity.

“I want to just keep playing, until someone makes me stop,” said

Shores, whose offensive production helped Mesa encounter green lights in

its first two postseason intersections.

Shores went 4 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs in the Mustangs’ 10-5

first-round playoff win over Gladstone Friday.

The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week then added two more hits in

Tuesday’s 6-3 second-round triumph over Mayfair.

“He really hit in tough luck during league, so he was due to break out

with a game like (Gladstone),” Mesa Coach Kirk Bauermeister said. “He

even had a check-swing blooper.”

Bauermeister believes, however, that Shores’ hitting success was due

to more than a favorable twist of fate.

“He’s never one who won’t succeed because he’s not prepared or didn’t

work hard,” Bauermeister said. “He may not be the best athlete we have,

but he’s made himself a good, solid ballplayer, who brings his lunch pail

everyday and works very hard. You always know you’re going to get 100%

out of Steven.”

The Mustangs got plenty from the second-year varsity starter against

Gladstone.

His two-out single drove in the first run of the game to put momentum

in the Mesa dugout and his solo homer in the sixth regained some momentum

lost when the Gladiator scored four in the fifth to pare the lead to 9-5.

“His RBI single in the first was big, because we’d gone through a

stretch where we were leaving a lot of guys on base,” Bauermeister said.

“If we don’t score there, maybe our kids start thinking, ‘Here we go

again.’

“And his home run came after they had just scored four runs. We got a

leadoff hit in the inning, but he was picked off on a hit and run. The

next guy made out and it looked like we wouldn’t get anything, until

Steven got every bit of a fastball and hit it over the fence in

left-center.

While hitting .360 with 15 RBIs and 16 runs, and also playing solid

defense, Shores has continually contributed quiet leadership.

“He’s not a real vocal guy, but he’s respected by the kids and he’s a

very good teammate,” Bauermeister said. “He’s always trying to help

everyone else.”

Shores has always enjoyed steady helpings of baseball.

“It’s the only sport I play and I love it,” Shores said.

He said his baseball passion may one day lead him into coaching. But,

for now, he is intent on helping extend his playing career, perhaps into

June.

“I told the seniors before our playoff games that this could be our

last game,” Shores said. “And unless we want it to be our last game, we

need to come out and play hard. I want to put everything I have on the

field.”