Lemon doesn't take all the credit for Mustangs' success
| Saturday, Jun 27 2009 11:00 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Jun 27 2009 11:15 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale High all area baseball coaches, Greg Showers, and Dan Lemon.
There never was doubt in Dan Lemon's mind that defending a Central Section baseball title would be tougher than winning it in the first place.
"We definitely felt the pressure this year," said Lemon, who earned his second consecutive honor as The Californian's Baseball Coach of the Year. "But we knew we had the guys that could do it."
So the few times when things got hairy for Stockdale this season, Lemon and his "right-hand man," assistant Greg Showers, just settled things down.
"We didn't talk a lot about outcomes; we just talked about process," Lemon said. "If you go about things the right way, the end product should be pretty good with the talent we had."
The end product was championship-level good. For the first time in more than 50 years, a Bakersfield team won back-to-back big school section baseball titles when Stockdale won 6-2 at Clovis West in the final.
"It was just a once-in-a-lifetime group these last two years," Showers said. "It's one of the most outstanding senior classes ever from Kern County."
Lemon said the Coach of the Year honor is as much Showers' as it is his.
"I couldn't do it without him," Lemon said. "He's as much a part of this as I am. I've got the title, but he's a co-head coach."
Others considered: Cy Silver, North; Jason Smith, East
