San Marcos baseball coach Wes Ghan Gibson was still in college when several members of this CIF-Southern Section finals team were tearing it for the Goleta Valley South Little League All-Stars as youth players.
“I had no idea what these kids did before high school,” Ghan Gibson, 27, said when a reporter told him about their successes in their pre-teen days. “I remember the first year I was coach I was hearing this guy was an all-star. And I was like, ‘They’re going to have to earn it. This is a clean slate.’’’
These Royals have earned it and made history in the process under the guidance of Ghan Gibson and his coaching staff.
San Marcos is playing in its first CIF-SS baseball championship game on Saturday. The Royals (22-6) take on Aliso Niguel (18-13) for the Division 3 title at Blair Field at 4 p.m.
Aliso Niguel has turned its season around. After starting out 2-9, the Wolverines have won 10 of their last 11 games, including two shutouts in the playoffs. They have been to the CIF finals twice, in 2012 and 2014, and lost both times.
San Marcos is the first South Coast area school to play in a CIF baseball final since 2000, when Santa Barbara reached the Division 2 title game and Carpinteria made the Division 5 finale. A victory would make the Royals the first local champion since Carpinteria in 1974. North County schools Santa Ynez and Santa Maria won titles in 2014 and 2017, respectively.
After hearing about all the successes they had as little leaguers, Ghan Gibson’s response was “All I know is what they’ve done right now. I know what they’ve done the last practice.”
Ghan Gibson conveyed to the players and their families to live in the moment as Royals and shoot for the stars.
It’s played out beautifully. His teams are winning championships and players are advancing to the next level. Ace pitcher Cole Schoenwetter is considered a Major League prospect.
This year’s team is having an unforgettable season.
“Now knowing these families and kids the way I do, I know they had wonderful little league careers and everything, which of course matters tremendously,” said Ghan Gibson. “But, no matter what they’ve done in the past, you live in the present — you live with, ‘What are you doing right now?’ I think that’s really important.
“These boys have earned everything they’ve gotten. It’s all earned.”
In just three years at the helm, Ghan Gibson has taken San Marcos baseball to a level it’s never experienced. The team won a third straight Channel League championship, with this season’s title coming in an eight-team league with the Ventura and Oxnard area schools.
The Royals reached their first CIF semifinal in history and now their first final.
Ghan Gibson passes the credit to the players for getting the job done.
“I didn’t pitch or hit, I didn’t have one at-bat the whole time,” he cracked. “You got to have good players. You got to have players that buy in and are proud to be where they’re at, and enjoy the process, especially in this game of baseball.
“The one thing I was told, ‘Don’t try to change the players. Try to create a culture that you think is supposed to be in the present.’ The culture thing.”
Brad Cekada could be the poster child of the culture Ghan Gibson created in the program. He was a substitute last year and had a role of shagging the foul balls that were hit to the backstop. He did it with gusto, bolting out of the dugout like his hair was on fire, retrieving the ball, handing it to the plate umpire and sprinting back.
This year, Cekada is on the field as the Royals’ starting first baseman.
“I’m so proud of that kid,” gushed Ghan Gibson. “He works so hard. He is part of living in the moment. He’s going to win our Mr. Hustle award this season. I can’t say enough about that kid’s effort. He wants it so bad. He’s a ginormous reason why we’re here.
“Obviously, the big names (are), Schoenwetter, (Caden) Hodina and (Owen) Estabrook, but without guys like Brad Cekada, who are just willing to do whatever it takes, we’re not here. He’s committed to the team and it’s paying off right now.”
The joy and passion Cekada displayed while retrieving foul balls is what Ghan Gibson wanted to see on the field in practice and games.
“Coming in, I thought we needed to be the aggressor,” said Ghan Gibson of the culture change. “We needed to be tougher, we needed to commit more to this game all year round.
“This team has committed,” he continued. “And we talk about it every day after practice. All we’re doing is to get one more day to play together.”
He expressed thanks to his coaching staff, which includes his father, Brian Gibson. Other members are Morgan Moore, Tony Garcia and Tony Sandoval.
“We just try to be the best that we can every single day,” he said. “It’s a combination of a lot of good days in a row, I feel like. We just try to go one day at a time, try to get as good as you can and, after a bunch of good days in a row, something good comes out of it.”
Ghan Gibson is excited to have his father along for the ride to the final.
“He gives us a different dynamic,” said the son. “I’m the youngster with the new-age stuff. My dad brings out the old-school coaching. He’s been coaching football since I was in the 5th grade. He was coaching at San Marcos when (now principal) Dare Holdren was the head coach. And he’s never stopped coaching, whether it’s football, girls basketball, baseball.
“Talk about a guy who’s earned the right to be at this stage right now, he’s been a San Marcos Royal through and through, even through the ups and downs. I’m really happy that he gets to be here in this moment and enjoy some of this.”
After finishing his college career at Cal State Northridge, Ghan Gibson wasn’t thinking about going into coaching.
Despite having no coaching experience, he was offered and accepted positions as a JV football and baseball coach at San Marcos. His first baseball season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but in that short time he realized that he enjoyed working with the kids.
“I started to apply myself to be a better coach, learning, listening and just doing all that stuff. That’s kind of where it started. I didn’t have a plan to be a coach,” he said.
He sought the advice some of his former coaches, including SBCC’s Jeff Walker.
“We talk all the time,” said Ghan Gibson. “I need to ask questions to be better as a coach.”
By the results, he’s received some good answers.
“It’s pretty fun,” Ghan Gibson said of coaching. “I feel very lucky and fortunate to be in a leadership role with these awesome young men. It’s surreal.”