Coach Murphy Su’a is entering his 2nd year as Wildcats head . In his first year at the helm Coach Su’a led the Wildcats to its most wins (11) in the past 7-seasons and placed 8 players on the All- Conference team including 2-First Team, 3-Second Team and 3-Honorable Mention with 14-players named Conference Scholar Athlete. Freshman Paul Pollard was also named All-Conference Golden Glove Award recipient (center field).

2017 WESTERN STATES 2017 WESTERN STATES CONFERENCE All- CONFERENCE TEAM SCHOLAR ATHLETES Gary Dixon (1st Team) Jacob Elliot Jacob Weiner Paul Pollard (1st Team) John Choe Cooper Gallion Ricky Vasquez (2nd Team) Madden Laing Nicolas Ounjian Madden Laing (2nd Team) Matthew Latiolait Laurington Williams Robert Landry (2nd Team) Grant Craddolph John Peukert Manuel “Jesse” Garcia (HM) Gary Dixon Jaelin James Laurington Williams (HM) Roy Hirota Miles Tipton Jagger Acosta (HM)

Through the hard work of hitting/outfield coach Roger Hill and pitching coach Carlos Rojas the 2017 squad were among conference leaders including 2nd in batting average (.267) and 2nd in stolen bases (50) while the WLAC pitching staff was 3rd in the conference with 226 . In one season the 2017 squad improved its numbers from the previous year in at-bats, runs, hits, homeruns, and by pitch while Wildcat bettered its numbers in wins, appearances, , runs, earned runs, strikeouts, and ERA. Team fielding also improved to 945%.

Baseball led all WLAC Athletics in team GPA Fall/2016 and Spring /2017 semesters. 15-players from the 2017 baseball roster moved on to 4-year colleges and universities.

Coach Murphy Su’a skippered the Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball Toros for eight years, and saw 15- players taken in the MLB draft, 10-players signed free agent contracts with MLB affiliate teams and 10+ players signed with independent professional teams. Su’a’s 2011 draftees included Kevin Pillar MLB ’ center fielder and Josh Corrales right-handed for NPB (Nippon ) Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Japan’s version of MLB. In 2010 Kevin Pillar set an NCAA Division II record with 54 consecutive games hit streak. Coach Su’a served as assistant coach @ CSUDH 2002-2006 under CSUDH’s winningest head baseball coach George Wing.

In eight years as at CSUDH Su’a coached 12 All American, 55 All-Region, 34 All Conference, 3 Region MVP, 1 Conference MVP, 2 Conference Newcomer of the Year, 1 Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year, 1 ESPN The Magazine National Academic Male All American (all sports), 5 Regional Gold Gloves, 2 National Gold Glove, 2 Conference Championship Tournaments, 2 NCAA Regional Tournaments, Hosted 2010 NCAA West Regional Tournament. Su’a’s 2010 team finished 41-20 ranked #8 nationally and defeated #1 ranked UC San Diego in conference championship semi-final game.

Coach Su’a was the pitching/catching coach for East LA College in 1991 under head coach Al Cone. The 1991 ELAC Huskies made the state play-offs for the first time since 1957. Two pitchers went in the MLB draft while many other players received university scholarships.

Coach Su’a served as Palos Verdes High School’s interim head baseball coach for the 2016 season. He led the Sea Kings to the CIF tournament with a 20-11 record. Su’a was assistant coach at West Torrance High School 1995-2001 under legendary head coach Harry Jenkins. Four players from West Torrance High School were taken in the 1998 MLB draft and the 2000 team was ranked #1 in the nation almost the entire season going 22-0 to start the season but lost its final game at Dodger Stadium and finished the year with a 30-2 record.

Coach Su’a served as head coach and pitching coach on two tours with the USA-Australia Goodwill Series in Sydney, Perth and Adelaide under the direction of Bob Williams and the Friendship Series USA-Japan in Tokyo and Osaka under the direction of Darrell Miller, Ike Hampton and Doug Takaragawa MLB/UYA. Su’a also coached the American National Baseball Team under head coach Ben Solaita to a Gold medal in the 1998 Southern Division BCO (Baseball Confederation of Oceania) and a silver medal in in the 1999 South which also served as a qualifying tournament for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia; International Baseball Challenge in Grand Forks, Canada and NBC in Wichita, KS. During the spring Coach Su’a organizes pre- workouts for US based professional players with scrimmage games against professional teams from South Korea including powerhouse NC Dinos (with Eric Thames) and the KT Wiz both with the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization). Coach Su’a visited the NC Dinos in Changwon, Busan and its minor league team in Seoul, South Korea as a guest of NC Dinos’ President Tae Il Lee. Su’a’s pre-spring training groups included MLB players Randy Wolf, Joe Biemel and .

Professionally, Su’a coached the Paintsville Brewers (under Skipper ) to an Appalachian League Championship in 1983. The Paintsville Brewers rostered 9-future major leaguers including 1st round pick Dan Plesac (MLB Network) and Chris Bosio (current pitching coach). Su’a also served as player/coach and interim for the 1984 Stockton Mudville-9 (Ports) in the Brewers organization.

Misc………. As a player while at Brigham Young University (BYU) Su’a was named First Team All-American at third base (1979) and was among the nation’s best that year with 22-homeruns, 22-doubles, 72-runs scored, 19-stolen bases, 91-RBI with only 27-stikeouts. In 1979 BYU won the WAC championship over San Diego State (, Bud Black, Bobby Meacham and Chris Jones) but lost at #1 ranked University of Texas sending the Longhorns to the College World Series.

Su’a played 6-years professionally, 2-years with the organization (Pioneer League, Cal League) and 4-years with the organization (Midwest League, Texas League, Appalachian League, Cal League). Su’a played third base for the 1979 Pioneer League Champions Lethbridge Dodgers and coached the 1983 Appalachian League Champions Paintsville Brewers.

Coach Su’a is married for 38+ years to his wife Nina, have three children Justin, Natasha and Travis and 9 grandchildren. Son Justin serves are a mental coach/trainer for the and Cleveland Browns.