Mater Dei Softball Coach Myers Resigns After Five Seasons

Doug Myers, who coached Mater Dei to a Southern Section softball title this year, resigned Thursday.

Myers’ Monarchs won two section titles and reached three section finals in four years. He compiled a record of 134-21 over five seasons. He said time demands and the opportunity to leave with the seniors who carried the program the last four years were reasons for his decision.

“I was really tied into this group [of seniors],” Myers said. “I had given [resigning] some consideration after the ’96 team [won a section title] . . . but it was more a commitment to this group.”

Myers was The Times Orange County 1995 Coach of the Year. He coached previously at Los Amigos, Canyon and Ocean View, and he said he doesn’t want to coach high school again.

He also coached a travel team, the A.S.A. Southern California Athletics’ under-16 team, and is a personal batting instructor.

Myers said he will help Mater Dei through its summer program.

“My reaction is simple--Mater Dei’s going to miss him,” Mater Dei girls’ Athletic Director Geri Campeau said.

Myers said he had been thinking about resigning for several weeks but wanted to wait until after Tuesday’s team banquet before making a final decision.

“I watched the slide show [at the banquet] and they showed the eight seniors when they were freshmen, and Kelsey [Kollen, the section’s all-time hit leader] when she was a bat girl years ago,” Myers said. “It got to me, and it reinforced the feeling that it was the time to go.”