Upbeat Tarazon Joins Candidates for Camarillo Job

Al Tarazon, who Wednesday was passed over for the job as varsity baseball coach at Royal High, said later in the day that he intended to apply for the vacant position at Camarillo High.

Tarazon, 29, is the junior varsity baseball coach at Channel Islands, as well as a varsity assistant for the Raiders’ football team.

“I’m not depressed or anything,” Tarazon said of the decision by Royal Principal Dave Jackson. “It was a good, positive experience.

“I’d like to get a job. In my heart, I’m ready to go. But I’m also in a good situation.”

Tarazon joins three other candidates for the position at Camarillo, according to Camarillo Athletic Director Carl Thompson. They are: Jack Willard, Terry Craven and Mark Morrison. Thompson said that he would begin the interview process Friday and hoped to have a decision by Monday afternoon.

Willard has coached the Camarillo girls’ basketball team for the past three years and recently resigned as the school’s softball coach after two seasons. He also coached Camarillo’s American Legion team in 1986. Willard, 31, is a full-time English teacher at Camarillo.

Craven, who also applied for the Royal job, was head baseball coach at Cal State Northridge for four years, compiling a record of 123-103-1.

He was a Matador assistant for 14 years. As a player in 1965, Craven became CSUN’s first All-American when he batted .381 with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs.

Morrison, 28, has been the junior varsity coach at Buena for four years. He played baseball at Sylmar High and at UC Irvine before accepting a position at the Ventura school where he is a full-time social sciences teacher.

Camarillo’s baseball position was vacated by Ken Wagner, who resigned to accept a similar post at Moorpark College.