Coach Cronin's team ends season with championship title, life lessons

WINNERS ALL- Coach Lisa Cronin, upper right, and her coaches and players are all smiles following their win at the Westlake Baseball Association World Series for the 7- and 8-year-old Pinto division. Lisa Cronin, the only female coach in her twin sons' baseball league, has a lot to smile about. Not only did her team win the Westlake Baseball Association's World Series for the 7- and 8-year-old Pinto division, but the 12 players learned about compassion and camaraderie and that winning isn't everything.

Cronin played softball from the time she was 8 up through college. Her husband, the famous REO Speedwagon singer Kevin Cronin, is often on tour, so she decided to get involved with her sons' team.

"It started as an opportunity to bond with my boys and to come together with something we both love- baseball," Cronin said. "To end up winning was so beyond our expectations."

It was the last year her 8yearold twin boys, Shane and Joshua, would play in the coachpitch division. Cronin pitched half the season.

"Westlake Baseball is mostly a boys' club," Cronin said. "You don't see moms out there coaching. I loved being out there. It was just fun to be involved in that world. A lot of women came up to me and were like, 'Yeah, let's hear it for the girls.'"

Cronin and her co-coach Paul Drogosch selected kids they knew from Westlake Hills Elementary for the team. The majority of the 160 kids in the Westlake Baseball Association attend schools in Lang Ranch, White Oak, Westlake or Westlake Hills.

"Lisa is a great coach that the kids love to be around," Drogosch said. "She knows when to get involved and when to let things just work their way out. Lisa knows how to positively deal with all youth situations and, besides really understanding the game of baseball, she really knows how to get her message and concerns communicated to the kids and their parents."

Some of the boys on the team had turned away from the game because of bad experiences with coaches or other teams.

"Most people would agree that, especially in baseball, it can be very competitive," Cronin said. "I've known several parents who've had talented kids that have been chased away from sports because of parent coaches that take it too seriously. The focus is too much on winning. The coaches want to win so badly, they end up losing perspective."

Drogosch was the twins' basketball coach, and Cronin convinced him to switch to baseball for a season.

"He was more into technique, and I was more the team psychologist focused on keeping things really positive," Cronin said. "When kids are 7 and 8 years old, they don't do well with parents pointing out what they've done wrong. I saw a lot of that in the teams we played. The coaches are really great people but maybe have the tendency to always point out what was wrong and not what (the players) did right."

Josh Garelik was introduced to the game this year.

"It was my first year playing baseball, and playing on the Cardinals was a great experience," Josh said. "I learned a lot from the coaches, like how to play as a team, and I had lots of fun."

The season began in March, and the Cardinals played 15 games. They lost three games and went on to play each of the teams that beat them in the playoffs.

Playoffs began in May. By June 7, the Cardinals were playing their final game of the World Series against the Dodgers at Westlake Elementary.

At the end of the sixth inning, the game was tied 5-5.

"We could see the kids starting to give up," Cronin said. "Paul and I really pulled them together. It wasn't about winning the trophy. It was more about pulling together as a team. Baseball is a team sport, and it's important to teach kids to be compassionate for those who don't have the same level of talent."

The Cardinals scored 11 runs in the top of the seventh inning and went on to win the game 16-7.

"There were great life lessons in it," Cronin said. "They were taught patience, compassion, what it feels like to lose and how not to give up. Winning the World Series was very, very exciting. But it was just sort of icing on the cake."

Drogosch agreed.

"Winning the championship was just a bonus to a very successful and fun season," Drogosch said. "I decided to coach with Lisa because, when it comes to coaching youth sports, she shares the same core values: developing all youths, learning the meaning of 'team' and just plain having fun."

What her kids talk about most, Cronin said, is the great time they had all season long.

"Winning isn't everything," Cronin said. "When you focus too much on winning, it has a tendency to backfire on you. Or winning at all costs- I don't believe in that.

"When we won, people said it was our karma. We were really more of a feel-good team, and then we ended up winning. The whole thing was really thrilling."