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JSerra Catholic High in San Juan Capistrano, California–named after the Catholic Saint, Junípero Serra– is one of the most prestigious high schools in the West–if not the country–academically and athletically.
The sports program has fielded teams that have won individual and team championships: Brett Kay’s baseball program, for example, produced shortstop Royce Lewis, who was the first overall selection in the 2017 MLB draftl JSerra alum Dante Pettis, a wide receiver who attended the University of Washington, was a 2nd round draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 2018 and current senior Isabella D’Aquila was named the National Girls Soccer Player of the Year, also last year.
But in softball, it’s been a different story for the school that has 23 sanctioned high school sports and seven club squads.
Over the last dozen years, the fastpitch program has frequently come up short of .500 and seen eight coaches come through and depart. The lack of continuity has also prevented the school from reaping the on-field success of fellow Orange County programs such as Mission Viejo, Mater Dei (Santa Ana), Los Alamitos, Orange Lutheran, Pacifica (Garden Grove), Gahr (Cerritos) and others.
BUILDING FROM A SMALL FOUNDATION WITH BIG-TIME PLANS
The lack of wins has also impacted the number of athletes participating in softball as only one team will be fielded this year (no JV or freshman teams); by comparison, Coach Kay’s baseball program has around 50 who play across different levels.
Building from a lower set of expectations was the challenge facing Athletic Director Chris Ledyard last year and, not only did he succeed in getting a proven coach who can win, he also got a nice two-for-one acquisition that looks to turn around the Lion softball program.
As the 2019 high school season rapidly approaches, Ledyard can take satisfaction in knowing that he has brought in two highly acclaimed coaches, Katie Stith and Allexis “Chip” Bennett, who have ties to perhaps the most respected programs in the sport at two levels: the OC Batbusters organization which has won over 30 club national championships, and the UCLA Bruins, who have won 12 NCAA Div. I titles.
“We are thrilled to bring Katie to the JSerra family as Head Softball Coach,” said Ledyard at the time of the hiring last November. “She has a clear vision and plan to guide our softball program to the top of the Trinity League.”
If the name of Katie Stith, who played at Nevada-Reno and helped the Wolf Pack to three WAC titles (2006, 2008-09), sounds familiar it could also be because she’s the daughter of Mike Stith, who runs the OC Batbusters club organization based in Anaheim, California and serves as the head coach of the USSSA Pride in the NPF.
A head coach of a 16U team in the Batbusters organization, Katie was hired in November to run the Lions’ softball program and just this week officially brought in another Batbusters coach who’s carved out her own path of success in the sport, Chip Bennett, the former UCLA All-American who is currently playing for the Pride during the summer and will assist Stith in the Lions’ dugout.
This isn’t just a quick stop for each coach, either; the two former college standouts who have known each other for about a decade, say their goal is to build JSerra into “an empire” but not just in wins and softball titles: the duo states their mission is also to change their players’ lives off the field.
“This is a long-term deal for us,” begins Stith, who in 2017 coached a 14U Batbuster team to the title game of the World Fastpitch Championship and also a Top 20 finish in last year’s PGF Nationals.
“We want to build the program up and it’s humbling, especially with the success of the other programs here at JSerra, because we only had 12 girls in the fall and, with some playing other sports, we’re flirting with having it go down to nine. The numbers are very slim and it’s been a challenge for sure, but it’s a lot bigger than just playing softball, it’s about making the players better people, young ladies and even daughters. For Chip and me, it’s exciting as we talk through building a program here, and making JSerra an attractable place for softball and building the best possible program.”
The two young coaches–Stith is 32-years-old and Bennett is 24– know that fielding a second Lions’ team, as Stith predicts they’ll have in the next few years, will come later. For now, they have to set a paradigm of winning that begins with the tenacity and passion both have shown throughout their careers on and off the field.
“If you play for us,” Stith states emphatically, “we’re going to teach you how to be a good teammate, that’s the No 1 thing. Also, it’s important to have a good attitude, take feedback well, be confident and be in sync with each other. It’s truly not an individual sport and is not solely about physical talent, for us it is also about grit and working hard.”
BEING “ALL-IN” ON & OFF THE FIELD
Both Stith and Bennett frequently use the term “all-in.”
“I don’t want this to sound wrong,” Bennett prefaces her next comments, “but anyone can teach how to field a ground ball. The little things are what we naturally do and have to do.”
“We want the nine girls on the field playing like they’re six-foot linebackers. We teach shoulders back, chin up, and they have to be all-in to what we teach… if they do that, we can have great success here.”
Stith added, “There’s no reason we can’t be successful with the two beautiful fields and the tremendous support that we have received from the administration.”
“They have given me the resources necessary and also the autonomy to make decisions that will allow me to develop this program into something great.”
“If you want to be successful, you have to be all-in. If I want to do this long-term and am passionate about it, I have to jump in with both feet, develop my skill set, and give the necessary time to softball. This move helps me invest time into doing lessons and helping my parents build the Sports Training Complex and coach other teams. Going full-time on this allows me to immerse myself in the sport to get to know kids better and the sport better.”
“We’ve talked a lot about building an empire here,” agrees Bennett, who will serve as an Assistant Coach. “This school is getting better every year and when Katie got hired, I left my primary day job to join her because I believe in it. Katie has been like a mentor to me in coaching and I coach like I am still playing, which I am. I love working with the athletes, it’s where I need to be.”
Bennett has a resume that will certainly get her players’ attention. A three-year captain for the Bruins during her career from 2012-16, the Southern California native played in four NCAA World Series tournaments and was a two-time 1st Team All-American and also a back-to-back Pac-12 batting champion.
She too preaches the importance of being “all-in,” which those who have followed her career have never doubted.
“Being all-in has been a concept that’s been intertwined in everything I do for all my life,” stresses Bennett. “I was all-in when I was 16 and committed to UCLA. Throughout my career, I knew what it meant because I was taught it by my parents. I’m an all-or-nothing person to this day–I have to lift the most weight of anyone in the room, if I do Excel spreadsheets, I have to study it more than anyone.”
“I’m a perfectionist–it’s my biggest weakness and the greatest tool I have. Hitting is outcome based and you can follow the analytics, buying into a program and believing you can achieve greatness is conceptual and it’s how we will build an empire here. For me, being all-in is how I am and how I was raised. If you’re going to be the best, you have to work at it. Katie and I, we both are borderline perfectionists, and our goal is to pass on this passion to the athletes and have them be the liasons for the program when they’re not practicing or playing for us.”
“For me, being with Katie is a true testament to being in all-in. Here’s someone who has left a successful corporate job to focus on these kids and building a successful program.”
After finishing a successful career and graduating from UNR in 2009 with dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Business Management and Business Marketing, Stith started with the Frito Lay company in Reno, Nevada a week after she finished her softball career. For almost a decade, the So Cal native would work in the corporate world and serve in roles such as District Manager and Account Manager where she would call on such huge and reputable companies such as Target, Kmart, WinCo and Bristol Farms.
By any definition of business success, Stith had achieved it, but knew ultimately her heart was in softball and building up young players.
She gave her notice in November that she would be departing and had built such good equity with the company that she was asked to help transition her responsibilities to other employees. There was even some discussion about what it might look like for Katie to stay with Frito Lay in a limited capacity; however, Stith knew that would prevent her from being, yes, all-in with her aspirations with JSerra, where she also works part-time in Advancement for the school. January 25, 2019 was officially her last day with the company and now it’s full speed ahead with coaching.
BATBUSTERS FROM THE BEGINNING
Although their backgrounds are different, Stith and Bennett crossed paths many different times before.
The future Bruin outfielder was a shortstop at Troy High in Fullerton, California before going on to UCLA. She began hitting lessons with Mike Stith at the age of 15 ½ after joining the Batbusters organization months earlier. She holds the distinction of being the first slapper at his Sports Training Complex in Anaheim where Stith still works out players and teams.
“Caitlyn Lowe came to work with us,” Bennett remembers, “and Katie’s older sister gave lessons to my little sister when she was just starting softball. I practically grew up in the facility Mike owns today, I’d be there five days a week when I was in high school.
Ironically, she never got to actually play for Stith on one of his teams during her Batbusters days, but last summer she took the field with him for the first time as the Pride won the NPF Championship.
Still, she says: “I’m a Batbuster through and through. I was mentored by Mike and he taught me how to succeed through hard work and dedication.”
After finishing at UCLA in 2016 and getting a Bachelor of Science degree, Bennett worked a year with the softball team as a coach before deciding she too wanted to give back to the sports through working with players.
“I realized that for elite players even the fundamentals and preparation of the game is missing. I did a lot of coaching clinics and seminars and then started coaching with the Batbusters and really enjoyed it.”
Her passion for teaching between the lines didn’t escape the attention of Katie Stith, who after being hired by JSerra, brought up Bennett’s name quickly to her new bosses.
Chip laughs when she remembers the first phone call inviting her to join her long-time friend.
“I thought, ‘Why is Katie calling me? Am I in trouble?’”
This past Monday was Bennett’s first official day on the field and the two young coaches admit they were nervous.
“We’re both Type A personalities,” admits Stith, “and we didn’t know if we might want to go in separate directions, but it was very cool and natural. It helps that we were both brought up the same way. The kids must’ve thought, ‘This is going to be nuts!’ because they’ve never been coached like this. It is going to be work and be intense, it’ll be a challenge, but that’s what needs to happen, the culture shift.”
“We want this to be sustainable,” the Anaheim resident continues, “not just dangle a carrot in front of people trying to get them to come. We want people to come because we have a long-running sustainable program, which will attract the right people. We want people to come because they believe in what we’re doing.”
BEING LIKE BASEBALL
Coach Kay, who is also the Assistant AD of Communication at JSerra, sees a lot of himself in the two young coaches. The baseball head coach has been at JSerra for 13 of its 16 years since it opened in 2003. He believes the softball path Stith and Bennett are on is the right one.
“This school is well-rounded and that’s the most important aspect of it. Sports reveals character and the recipe of that success comes from being well-rounded. The comradery of the individuals and the programs here is strong and I like the direction the softball program is going, we want to see other sports have success.”
“Katie and Chip are in the mold and fit of what we want. Being women, they are powerful and successful role-models, and we’re so pleased with the culture they’re bringing and how they’re doing it the right way. I expect within two to three years that Katie and Chip create a place that is a high-destination for well-rounded students athletes that are looking for a high-level of coaching in the high school realm.”
Kay explains how Stith first came to the attention of the school: “Her name popped with some other good names and when we interviewed Katie, it was a match made in heaven.”
Coach Kay admits the school administrators were hesitant at first about Stith being from such a strong business background, perhaps not knowing her full involvement with the Batbusters’ organization the last decade, saying: “We were wary as she came from a corporate background, but ultimately were very impressed with how Katie wants to mold women and be a big part of their life.”
For their part, Stith and Bennett are excited for the challenge and say that’s why they’re all-in: “The support we’ve received so far is crazy,” raves Stith. “We’ve received a lot of support from the administration to start making necessary improvements to make our facility one of the top ones in Orange County. We’ve been tasked to build up the kids, to teach them to work hard, to be good people and to prepare for the next phases of life.”
“And to win.”