Baseball: Lots of coaches coming, going and making news

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The Southern Section and City Section semifinals are this week, and there are so many stories of coaches coming and going that you’d think it were professional sports.

At Flintridge Prep, 25-year-old first-year Coach Guillermo Gonzalez, a first-generation Mexican American, has taken a private school team into the Division 6 semifinals. He grew up in Boyle Heights, playing T-ball at Wabash Park, helped his community coaching youth baseball, coached freshman ball at Monrovia, then was given the chance at Flintridge Prep as an unproven coach.

At Loyola, 26-year-old Cooper Bergdahl was thrust into the role of interim head coach when the playoffs began. He had been the team’s third-base coach. Now the Cubs are in the Division 1 semifinals and one win away from a trip to Dodger Stadium.

At Mira Costa, Cassidy Olson spent the first month of the season on suspension because of questionable allegations from some whining parents who probably didn’t like someone telling them their son wasn’t good enough to play. Now Mira Costa has reached the Division 3 semifinals.

At LACES, Alexis Lopez has his team playing for the City Section Division III championship on Tuesday against East Valley at USC after being fired by West Adams, the school that seemingly gets rid of every good coach.

Adapt and adjust. That’s the strategy.

-- Eric Sondheimer