By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor: Maranatha doesn’t just have a baseball coach that will make his players better and provide opportunities for them to continue their careers at the next level. They have a mentor who is going to be a (second) father figure, a man who will practice what he preaches, and someone that […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor:
Maranatha doesn’t just have a baseball coach that will make his players better and provide opportunities for them to continue their careers at the next level.
They have a mentor who is going to be a (second) father figure, a man who will practice what he preaches, and someone that represents a spiritual high school in the best possible light.
Maranatha won an area-best 22 games this season, including two in the postseason.
Yes, they had a lot of talent, a deep bench and a solid pitching staff.
Maranatha finished with a .357 team batting average, including nine players hitting above the .300 mark.
They also boasted a pitching staff with a team ERA of 1.34, and a combined 267 strikeouts as a unit.
But it takes a man like Matt Shupper to put all that talent in spots to make the Minutemen the best they can be.
Shupper, along with a solid set of assistant coaches, molded a team that won four more games than the next closest (Poly) in the Pasadena and La Canada areas.
For his leadership off and on the field, the role he plays in making teenage boys better young men and his results, Shupper has been named the 2017 Pasadena Sports Now Baseball Coach of the Year.
In just his sixth year at the helm, Shupper’s 96 wins at Maranatha are a school record.
He passed former coach/athletic director Brian DeHaan this season, and at one point, the Minutemen won 11 consecutive games.
Shupper left his father Bill Shupper’s business as an agent, and felt it was God’s calling for him to take a different path in life several years back.
That meant going back to school after graduating from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington.
Shupper got his Master’s Degree at USC, and opened up the paper one day and saw an ad that said Maranatha was looking for a new baseball coach.
Despite having zero coaching experience at the varsity level, Shupper’s background and pedigree in baseball and the business made him an attractive applicant for the job.
DeHaan hired Shupper and Maranatha and their student-athletes are the better for it.
It isn’t having the best talent that makes Shupper this year’s standard bearer, it’s the detail and functionality in which his program is run that sets him apart from most.
Maranatha did have their disappointments as well.
They had a chance in the final week of the season to earn the Olympic League title with a pair of games against first-place Village Christian.
They lost both of those games.
Maranatha also lost in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs to Victor Valley in a year they had championship talent in its dugout.
But baseball is a strange and cruel game at times, and a coach can only put his players in a position to succeed or fail, and far more often than not, the Minutemen succeeded.
It’s also not just what Shupper brings to the table, it’s who he surrounds himself with.
Maranatha assistant coaches Al Quintana, Cory Popham, Drew Nance, Mark Jebbia, Tim Jebbia and Derek Podrebarac all play enormous roles in Shupper and Maranatha’s success.
“These coaches are amazing men of God. They support the kids in the program like they are their own sons and they support each as if we are all brothers,” Shupper said. “We joke together a lot, we get ticked at each other and we are there to tell each other when do something right or wrong. These are the men who make up Maranatha baseball. They are uniquely gifted and powerful motivators. We are successful because these guys wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Shupper’s philosophy of putting pressure on his opponents, both offensively and on the mound have been key in his success.
But he said it all started with his dad Bill and mother, Judi, who laid the tracks to be successful on the field and in life.
Said Shupper: “I want to thank my original coach, my dad, Bill, and my mom, Judi, for teaching me to serve others, to love others and love baseball. Without them starting this at an early age none of this is possible. My parents have always given freely and without hesitation and that is something I try to do with each member of this team and their parents too.”
Perhaps, though, no one has done more in making it possible for Shupper to instruct quality young men in a sport he is passionate about than his wife Beth.
Beth Shupper has not only supported her husband of 14 years, but given him the three greatest gifts he’ll ever have.
“I want to thank my wife of nearly 14 years Beth for her support in allowing me to chase this dream of coaching and giving everything I am able to this program,” Shupper said. “I want to thank my son Carter (11), my daughter Bentley (9) and my son Owen (4) for sharing their dad with 30 plus high school boys nearly year round, but especially during the Spring. These four people sacrifice more than they ever knew they would and do it without a single complaint year after year.”
Shupper, despite being a deeply religious man, is not afraid or shy to get in a player’s face when needed, and that includes his stars.
“Coach Shupper can really challenge you some times, and he’s made me an example of me on more than one occasion,” co-Player of the Year Marco Martinez said. “And as difficult as it can be to have someone call you out in front of others, I know it’s all about how much he cares about me and my teammates, and that he is trying to make us better players, and more importantly, better people.”
As disappointed as Shupper was after a 5-1, season-ending defeat to Victor Valley, it wasn’t so much about losing or the season being over that devastated the Maranatha skipper, it was seeing the faces of seniors Eddie Lopez, Alex Cornwell, Trevor Marrs, Evan Chang, Kalani Chang and Andrew Webster.
“I am sad that I won’t see them on a daily basis anymore, but I hope they’ll come back and share their successes with me. These kids and their families are all part of my family and the Maranatha family,” he said.
The up side for Shupper is, that despite losing a lot of talent and character, Maranatha will likely be as good or better next season.
And no one between now and then will out-work the Minutemen in prepping for what they hope is a record setting 2018 season.
Lastly, Shupper wanted to thank the many who have played roles in his success as a coach, friend, father, husband and son.
“I am humbled and driven to be given this award and share with everyone who has shaped me into the coach and man I am today. Brian DeHaan, Eddie Arnett, Steve Sherman, Jim Hayford, Tom Peitzman, Ralph Winter, Bill Robinson, Jack Burns, Mack Paciorek, Matt Whisenant, Joel Drenckpohl, Lou Jones, Joe Shupper, Nick Shupper, Jeff Riddell, Yale Sheen, Jared Kushida, Glenn and Doug Falkenberg, Shawn Hill and many more. Thank you. To players I’ve coached past and present, thank you.”
