Bonita names Carter’s Samuel Lopez to take over Bonita baseball after departure of John Knott

By Pete Marshall
Samuel Lopez wasn’t looking for a new teaching and coaching position.
But when you’re successful, sometimes those positions find you.
Lopez, 33, who led Carter to a league baseball title three times in five years as head coach, has been approved as the new coach at Bonita.

Lopez replaces John Knott, who stepped down last month to take the job as coach at Mt. San Antonio College.
“They reached out to me, to see if I was interested in applying. I wasn’t looking to leave (Carter), but Bonita’s a very successful, established program. I thought it was worth taking a look at,” Lopez said.
In five years at Carter, Lopez compiled a 98-40 record, making the playoffs in all five years, and winning a league title three times, including this season in the Citrus Belt League. Each of the last three seasons Carter won at least one playoff game, including a run to the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals in 2015. Prior to Lopez’s arrival, Carter had missed the playoffs four straight seasons.
“When I came to Carter, there was no real expectation,” he said. “But there’s an expectation there now.”
While he helped create an expectation to win at Carter, there has been that expectation at Bonita for a long time.

Bonita won a CIF-SS title under Knott in 2012.
“There’s the expectation to win and to remain one of the better programs in the area. (The Palomares League) is one of the toughest leagues in Division 2,” Loepz said.
Knott announced his resignation before the end of the season and Bonita fell in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs, Carter lost in the second round of the Division 2 playoffs.
Lopez, a product of Miller High School, Chaffey College and Cal State San Bernardino, taught health at Carter and will teach physical education at Bonita. He said one of his assistant coaches at Carter, Adam Fimbres, will join him at Bonita. Carter pitching coach David Nolasco plans to stay at Carter, Lopez said.

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