Rebuilding a legacy at Marysville

Some years have passed since Maurice Clavelle played his last game for Marysville High School, but his presence will soon be felt again.

A three-sport standout for the Indians in his playing days, Clavelle wrapped up a stellar prep career by being named the Appeal-Democrat All-Area player of the year in basketball and baseball during his senior year of 1992 — becoming the last player to achieve the feat.

His wife, Michelle, also played three sports at Marysville and was voted by her classmates as the most athletic female in the yearbook in her senior year.

So what they're doing now shouldn't come as a surprise.

While the intimidating former athlete had one day hoped to pass on his competitive drive to a son, only ironic fate would have it that the Maurice be faced with another challenge — raising girls.

Today, the couple are raising four softball players, and it's Maurice's love for his daughters which has brought him back to his old stomping grounds. This time as the Indians' varsity softball coach. His aim: To build the program into a powerhouse.

"This is my town and I love Marysville, so it's pretty awesome," said Clavelle, who took over the program when Joe Flood stepped down after one year as coach. "We have a good Little League program and Marysville always seems to turn out good players. We're going to be good."

While the sight of such an imposing figure coaching a team of girls is an awkward one for some of those athletes who used to play against him, for Clavelle, softball is really nothing new.

He has actively been involved with Marysville Little League since his oldest daughter, Marissa, started playing tee ball, and has coached everything from All-star to competitive teams each season for the last decade.

And with Marissa now a sophomore, and daughters Cassidy, 11, Hannah, 9, and Kallie, 7, all playing and moving up through the ranks, he could be at it for awhile.

"I started coaching when she was five and I just kept on going," Clavelle said. "After coaching competitive ball, I realized that the game is played the same. There's a lot more outside stuff you have to deal with, but the administration has been great showing me the whole process."

And if Clavelle is in it for the long haul, he's sure to have plenty of help.

His assistant coaches — Jeff Bartolome and Tommy Baker — are Clavelle's close friends and both have daughters that are seventh graders at McKenny Intermediate.

"Tommy and I coached together in competitive ball and we work well together," Clavelle said. "And I've known Jeff pretty much my whole life — he even coached me when I played seniors."

Clavelle said that while the tech nique used for fielding and throwing are basically the same as in baseball, pitching and hitting a softball is completely different. First, there is no mound in softball, only a circle and the underhanded pitching means the ball is coming in at a different angle.

Second, the pitching slab is only 45 feet away from home plate as opposed to the 60-feet, 6-inch standard used in baseball, which gives the hitter far less time to react. Add to that the shorter distances between bases and the unlimited number of innings a pitcher can throw, and you get two different sports with different strategies.

"Softball is pitching dominated. It would be a lot different if you had a rotation to work with, but you can throw your ace every day if you want to," Clavelle said. "There's little time to react, so you have to be quick at the plate, too. If you try to load up on your swing, the ball will already be past you."

Of course, he doesn't need to look that far for insight into the game. After all, Michelle was a pretty good player herself and her father was actually one of his All-star coaches when Clavelle was dominating games at Earle Yorton Field as a little leaguer.

"She always has her input. She's always saying, 'This is how we did it when I played,' and I have to reminder her that this isn't the 80s anymore," Clavelle joked.

With first baseman Ashley McKiernan as the lone senior and only three juniors on the team, Clavelle will rely on a solid group of eight sophomores to lead the way this season. They may be young, but six of those sophomores are returning from last year's 11-11 squad, including ace pitcher Ashton Welch and Marissa at shortstop.

"It's unfortunate that work-wise Joe had to go somewhere else," said Clavelle, who has already coached nine of his 12 current players in Little League. "He did a good job getting the program going last year because we had a lot of tough decisions to make."

Junior Danielle Ferrari is a player Clavelle cited for providing leadership for the team and the Indians' lone freshman, third baseman Tressa Arostegui, is already an ace in the making, Clavelle said.

"Even though we're young, I think we can win this year," Clavelle said. "We've made some mistakes in games, but I told them that if you make an error, you just have to shake it off because those things happen."