PREP SPORTS BURRILL LIKES CHALLENGE SAUGUS COACH COMFORTABLE AS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, TOO.Byline: Mayar Zokaei Mayar Zokaei is an American journalist currently serving as a media beat and sports writer. Zokaei periodically contributes to the Los Angeles Times, NYLA Magazine, and the Los Angeles Daily News. Special to the Daily News As long as he can remember, baseball has been an important element in Casey Burrill's life. When it came time for Burrill to attend high school, the family moved near Hart High so he could play for coach Bud Murray. ``I knew (Murray) was a guy who could get me past playing high school baseball,'' Burrill said. After an All-America career at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. , Burrill was drafted by the Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From to the present, the Braves have played in Turner Field. in 1993. However, a knee injury ended his minor-league career, and he took a job teaching at Valencia High, where he was an assistant baseball coach for two years. He was named the Saugus coach last summer, but three months later he was offered the school's athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic post. This time, Burrill decided to let his wife, Kris, decide which job to take. His wife supported his decision, and Burrill accepted the challenge. ``I knew he had terrific potential to do something like that,'' outgoing athletic director Bill Bolde said. ``He knew how to embrace the program. I knew the same qualities he brought to be a baseball coach were the same ones it takes lead an entire athletic program.'' Bolde, who coached baseball at Saugus and Canyon, remembers a budding budding, type of grafting in which a plant bud is inserted under the bark of the stock (usually not more than a year old). It is best done when the bark will peel easily and the buds are mature, as in spring, late summer, or early autumn. Burrill as being not just impressive on the field, but also off it. ``He always impressed me as a model human being,'' Bolde said. ``He was always one of the first to shake hands to perform the customary act of civility by clasping and moving hands, as an expression of greeting, farewell, good will, agreement, etc. See also: Shake after the game, and he was always intelligent. He knows how to ask the right questions. He still calls me to ask for advice.'' Burrill's transition to head coach included a first season that saw Saugus go 13-12, almost doubling the number of wins from the previous season. But being an athletic director was a different story. ``It's all about time management, that and finding a lot of people to help,'' Burrill said. ``I couldn't possibly have the time to do all things I should do as A.D.'' Being only 30 years old doesn't hurt, either. ``From that standpoint, I know I have a lot of energy, being younger than most athletic directors around,'' Burrill said. ``Younger people have a lot of drive and passion, but obviously, what they lack is experience. I have to overcome that, to seek help from others.'' Although he doesn't have much experience as an athletic director, coaching is a different story: He emulates the coaching philosophies of Murray and USC coach Mike Gillespie There are 3 sports coaches with the name Mike Gillespie:
``Coach Murray was a great teacher, and a great pitching coach, so I use some of the same methods he used,'' Burrill said. ``I'll always remember that with him, it was the most baseball I ever learned in the shortest amount of time. ``From coach Gillespie, I have stolen his practice schedules, his signs, ... everything I learned at USC, I have applied here.'' If it seems that he enjoys being a coach more, then Burrill admits he is conveying the right message. ``What we do as coaches and athletic directors is a powerful thing, and we can really have a positive influence,'' Burrill said. ``But if you had to take one away, I would want to be a baseball coach, forever.'' When reminded of playing against high school foe and Saugus High- product Roger Salkeld Roger William Salkeld (born March 6, 1971 in Burbank, California) is an American former profesional baseball player. A pitcher, Salkeld played Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners in 1993 and 1994 and the Cincinnati Reds in 1996. , a Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Mariners have played in Safeco Field. first-round draft pick in 1989, Burrill doesn't lament that his own aspirations aspirations npl → aspiraciones fpl (= ambition); ambición f aspirations npl (= hopes, ambition) → aspirations fpl for a pro career didn't pan out. ``I had a good time in the minors, and I could have gone back, but I was married and I had to get my life started,'' Burrill said. ``I thought I had gone as far as I could, and looking back, I wonder if I should've just gone straight to coaching after USC.'' Now that he is a coach, Burrill has his sights set on winning and improving his team. The Centurions lost their three meetings to Hart last season before recently beating them in summer league. With returning pitcher Chris Ahlheim and a core of solid hitters, Burrill likes his club's chances of earning a playoff play·off also play-off n. Sports 1. A final game or series of games played to break a tie. 2. A series of games played to determine a championship. Noun 1. berth in 2002. Even if they fall short in their pursuit, Burrill isn't going anywhere soon. ``I think I'll do this until I die,'' Burrill said. ``People ask me if I would ever want to be a college coach or an administrator. I'm fine where I am.'' |
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