Having been a late hire, new St. Paul High School softball coach Craig Worthington talks of communication on his part and hard work on the players’ part as necessary in making a smooth transition to the coming season.
Worthington replaces Cassie Morales who resigned to pursue a different career direction.
Worthington, 43, brings some impressive credentials, albeit they are baseball-oriented.
A graduate of Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High School and an all-conference selection at third base for Cerritos College, Worthington went on to spend 10 years in Major League Baseball. He played for the Baltimore Orioles (earning Sporting News Rookie of the Year honors in 1989 after batting .247 with 15 home runs and 70 runs batted in), Cleveland, Cincinnati and Texas. He finished with a .230 career average, 33 home runs and 144 RBIs in .
Worthington owns and operates a hitting instruction academy in Downey for both baseball and softball players.
“He has numerous connections to club softball teams and promises to bring on a quality staff,” St. Paul athletic director Marc Hernandez said. “I believe he will bring a sense of professionalism, leadership and continued success to our softball program.”
Because he was a late hire, Worthington did not have a summer program for the Swordsmen. He said he will spend the first month or two on conditioning before making up his mind how he will form the varsity and junior varsity groups.
To get the program started, Worthington said he needed to establish strong communication with the players and to earn their trust.
“Girls deal alot more with emotions than the boys do,” Worthington said, “but I feel confident I’ll be able to communicate well with them.
“The early goals will be to instill a team concept and work ethic, and how to go about it the right way. How we work on the field and in practice will determine how successful we’ll be. If we can get everybody in the same boat, everything should fall into place.”