Marden to Return for 13th Season at San Fernando

A summer at his house in Big Bear has refreshed Steve Marden, who vowed he will return for his 13th season as coach of the San Fernando High baseball team.

Marden admitted that he was emotionally spent after a trying season when he asked junior varsity coach Danny Heim in June whether he would coach the varsity next spring while Marden took a season off. Marden also asked varsity assistant Garth Marcus if he would assist Heim in his absence.

But after a summer of rest, Marden has changed his mind and will continue coaching.

“If you asked me at the end of June, I might have told you that I wouldn’t come back,” he said from Big Bear. “But now that I’ve had the summer off, I’m anxious to get back.”

Marden, 44, attributed much of his emotional strain to the teachers’ strike against the Los Angeles Unified School District and the boycott by 4-A Division baseball coaches. Marden was a leader of the boycotting coaches and also helped formulate a plan to conduct the playoffs after the strike was settled.

San Fernando, one of the favorites to win the City Section title, then lost in the first round of the playoffs, falling to Monroe, 4-2, on a six-hitter by Sean Henson.

“I felt real bad that my team played poorly in the playoffs after sitting around for two weeks, but I don’t blame the kids,” he said. “I blame the situation. I was just burnt out by the end of the season.”

The opening game of the Pony League World Series between Encino and host Washington, Pa., was postponed Friday because of rain. The game was rescheduled for noon today.

Keith Wright, a former all-conference wide receiver at Cal State Northridge, caught his first touchdown pass as a professional, and former Poly High standout Craig Ellis caught a game-high nine passes for 120 yards and a touchdown to lead the Edmonton Eskimos to a 39-34 victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders in a Canadian Football League game Thursday night at Ottawa.

Two Valley-area softball players were instrumental in helping their team win the 14-and-under division of the Junior Olympics National Championships last week.

Nicole Ochoa of Thousands Oaks and Mamta Mehta of Camarillo, both outfielders, helped the Crackerjacks of Santa Ana defeat the Batbusters of Orange County, 4-1.

More than 50 teams, including five from California, participated in the fast-pitch tournament that concluded Aug. 13 in Chattanooga, Tenn.