Joe Ronquillo

Bryce Alderton

Joe Ronquillo wants to extend his passion for baseball to not only

the children he teaches, but the parents of those players.

The former Estancia High grad who went on to play at Orange Coast

College and the University of Redlands is co-directing a youth

baseball camp with longtime friends Bill French and Rich Amaral. But

Ronquillo contends this isn’t just any ordinary camp.

“I prefer to call it a program. Ours is much more individualistic

with limited numbers,” Ronquillo, 47, said. “The three of us asked

ourselves [six to eight months ago], ‘What is it we really love?’

Baseball. And, even more so, we love not only our kids, but all kids.

Our goal is to build strong families and kids through sports and

activities and get them away from [television] and video games”

From 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. for six Sundays beginning Jan. 18,

Ronquillo, French and Amaral -- an 18-year professional who played 10

seasons in the majors for Seattle and Baltimore -- will instruct

players ages 6-12 on techniques such as hitting, pitching, catching

and proper throwing at Costa Mesa High and TeWinkle School Little

League fields. The three friends, who all played at OCC, hope to

motivate the audience to get involved.

The program is limited to 48 players.

“My son got five swings at a camp he was at,” Ronquillo said. “Our

goal is for each of those kids to get 50 to 100 swings a day that

will build muscle memory.”

Ronquillo urges parents to attend the sessions and become a part

of their child’s development.

“A lot of times mom is playing the role of both dad and mom,”

Ronquillo said. “They want to participate as much as they can, but it

is hard. That is why we scheduled the camps on Sundays, to allow more

parents the opportunity to watch their kids. We don’t want parents to

drop off their kids and come back in six or seven hours.”

Ronquillo took a week off of work -- he sells wine -- last summer

to watch his 6-year-old son, Max, participate in a camp.

“It was the best week I’ve ever taken off,” he sad. “We want

parents to be involved and go home with the son [or daughter] and try

[a technique].”

Ronquillo said too often parents and children aren’t spending

enough time interacting with each other. He wants to bridge that gap.

“This is a way for the family to get together for a bit,”

Ronquillo said.

Ronquillo played third and first base at Estancia before

graduating in 1974. He then coached Amaral at Estancia.

Ronquillo will enter his fifth season as an assistant at OCC this

spring for Coach John Altobelli. He will coach the catchers after

spending time with the hitters in the past.

“The thing John likes about me is that he can put me anywhere,”

Ronquillo said.

Prior to his current stint at OCC, Ronquillo was a pitching coach

at Saddleback College for two years

Ronquillo played for Ken Millard -- now an assistant at Woodbridge

-- at Estancia and then for Barry Wallace at OCC before transferring

to Redlands. He hopped around the infield, getting experience at

several positions.

“I played third base my junior year at Estancia, then moved to

first for my senior year,” Ronquillo said. He played third base his

first year at OCC under Wallace before moving to left field when Mike

Mayne took the head coaching reins. At Redlands he played shortstop.

“I didn’t have the best of range, but I loved playing shortstop

because you are right in the middle of everything,” Ronquillo said.

Ronquillo also spent two years as Corona del Mar’s head coach in

the mid 1980s.

Ronquillo was born at Hoag Hospital and grew up playing Little

League in Costa Mesa.

He played basketball until his freshman year in high school, but

decided to focus solely on baseball.

“Baseball was my thing,” he said.

Ronquillo lives in Belmont Shores with his wife, Kirsten, and has

four children -- three from a previous marriage. His oldest daughter,

Sarah, played soccer at Costa Mesa and looks forward to her sophomore

season at OCC next fall after recovering from reconstructive knee

surgery, which caused her to sit out the entire 2003 season.

Rachel Ronquillo, a junior, is a returning second-team All-Golden

West League forward for Costa Mesa’s soccer team. Eric, 12, plays on

AYSO and travel teams after encountering some “bad” experiences in

Little League, Ronquillo said.

“He got out of it and never wanted to play again. He loves soccer.

That is his deal and he is awesome at it,” Ronquillo said. “I told

Eric to come to [the baseball] camp and try it out. Maybe he could

help coach a team if he wanted it. I want him to have fun in other

things, but we’ll see.”

Camp applications can be obtained by calling (714) 579-2686.

Enrollment is limited.