Brito Gives Fans Reason to Celebrate

There are two spots to watch Cypress junior Bobby Brito hit.

* The Carniglia family’s back yard, located some 50 feet behind the left-field fence at Cypress High.

* The scorer’s rickety booth directly behind home plate.

Both provide a venue for quality entertainment, ideal to see Brito, whose 12 home runs are one short of the Orange County season record.

Now, three musts. You must have a lot of free time. You must idolize Brito. You must be kept away from sharp objects.

The Carniglia family has never been much for baseball. Soccer was their sport. Robert Carniglia even coached soccer, sometimes hopping the low point of his brick wall onto Cypress’ athletic field to get to practice.

That spot, these days, is where family friend Robert Lawson sometimes hangs out for baseball games and practices. He will taunt the Cypress hitters for fun, especially Brito, daring them to reach him. Brito has, occasionally.

In fact, Brito nearly caught Lawson in the face two weeks ago with a home run that bounced off the brick wall.

“I yell at them during batting practice, especially Brito,” Lawson said. “He’s the only one who can hit it this far.”

Brito occasionally knocks one into the back yard, a poke of more than 400 feet. He did that twice against Los Amigos this season.

Baseballs have to be fished from the pool every now and then. So far, no windows have been shattered. But give him time.

“He almost got me in the head one day during batting practice,” Lawson said. “I was yelling, ‘Hit the ball, Alice.’ Boy, he’s small, but he’s powerful.”

But leaning against the ivy-covered brick wall, waiting for Brito’s lightning strikes, brings only momentary thrills.

For true entertainment, one needs to hang out behind home play with the clan of Centurion coaches and ex-coaches. Before you can ask just how much free time they have, you’ll get an earful.

“I had Bobby in youth basketball , and he once scored 40 points.”

“Yeah, well, if he wanted to, he could be a great soccer player.”

“One day, I saw Bobby walk across the pond at Cypress College.”

These are grown men, mind you. A group therapy deal would seem in order, yet many at Cypress have become a bit cult-like about Brito.

“People stick around just to see him hit,” Coach Mark Steinert said.

No matter what. Dozens of Cypress fans waited through a long and painful seventh inning against Katella last week. Never mind that the Centurions were on their way to a 15-0 loss. Brito might--might, mind you--come up to bat.

“All we need is two runners for Bobby to get up.”

Brito was left waiting on deck when the game ended, disappointing the crowd.

“Steinert has to push for a new rule. Only one intentional walk each game.”

Cypress High’s favorite obsession has been around awhile now. He was an all-county pick as a freshman, after hitting .542 with six home runs and 33 runs batted in. He slumped last season to .349, without a single home run. He was hit by a pitch nine times.

This year, the game is to pitch to anyone but Brito. He has been walked 32 times this season, six short of the county record.

Still, he gets in his licks. Brito is hitting just over .500, with 35 RBIs and 37 runs scored.

Without him, the Centurions would never have eked out a third-place finish in the Empire League to qualify for the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

Without him, the Centurions’ games would be a lot less fun, no matter where you watched from.

“Here’s my prediction: He hits a three-run home run, or I kiss all of you at home plate.”

A prediction that miraculously, and mercifully for the others, came true.