Contant the man

Steve Virgen

The pressure mounted on Blake Contant’s shoulders, but the Corona del

Mar High senior would not break down.

This was his moment. This was what he wanted: the ball in his hand

in the Sea Kings’ most important game of the season. His adrenaline

seemingly increased as he warmed up in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium

before Corona del Mar took on Tesoro in the CIF Southern Section

Division IV championship Saturday morning.

The Titans entered the contest with great confidence, having

knocked out top-seeded La Quinta, 4-1, Tuesday. They wanted to add

Contant to their upset list. Tesoro scored one run on two hits in the

top of the first and Contant could have crumbled.

But the Sea Kings’ team captain and left-handed ace relied on the

stuff he has used all year. The stuff didn’t have so much to do with

pitching, but rather with calmness and an unwavering aggressive

attitude that appeared to be too much for the Titans.

Contant quickly rebounded from allowing the run that came from Nik

Nelson’s RBI single in the first. Contant struck out the next batter.

Including that strikeout, he retired 19 of the next 21, leading the

Sea Kings to the CIF Division IV championship with a 3-1 victory over

Tesoro.

Contant closed out his high school career with a three-hitter that

included three strikeouts and no walks on 75 pitches.

In the Sea Kings’ playoff run, Contant earned four wins and one

save. He finished the season with a 1.76 ERA.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better than this,” said Contant, a

front-runner for the CIF Division IV Player of the Year award. “To

finish 25-5 as a team and with a 12-2 [pitching] record, I’m

breathless. It’s awesome.”

Contant used a curveball and an effective changeup to keep the

Titans off balance. He retired the side in order in the second,

third, fifth and sixth innings.

“Blake Contant made the difference in the game,” Tesoro Coach Rick

Brail said. “He pitched a great game.”

After the Sea Kings scored two runs in the fourth to grab a 3-1

lead, the CdM senior hurler seemed even more relaxed. That meant

trouble for the Titans.

“[Friday] night, I went over to his house and he looked so

prepared and so focused,” said Dan Marin-Finn, the CdM catcher. “Even

when he came to the ballpark, he was so even keel. He was ready to

go. That pumped me up. He gives off a great vibe to everyone else and

everyone feeds off of it.”

Marin-Finn was also Contant’s battery mate when they were 11 and

playing in Little League. When Contant allowed the first-inning run,

Marin-Finn was not worried about it.

“I’ve been catching him since we were kids,” Marin-Finn said. “I

know he’s a fighter and he can battle back. Sure enough, he did.”

Said CdM Coach John Emme: “There was nothing different about him

[Saturday]. That’s what I love about him. It’s really funny. I was

very nervous Tuesday [against Northwood]. I was not nervous in the

least [Saturday]. That’s no disrespect to Tesoro. They are a great

team, but having Blake on the hill gives me a great sense of calm.”

Contant credits his coolness and confidence to his work ethic.

Since the summer before his junior year, Contant has religiously been

working out, and maintaining a healthy diet that included a great

deal of chicken, his mother, Lori, said.

“He was very calm, cool and collected [Saturday] morning,” Lori

said. “He has always been like that. He’s a quiet leader, like my

father [Earl Reynolds].”

Contant plans to continue his hard work as a preferred walk-on at

the University of Arizona. That’s quite a journey, considering where

he came from before high school.

Aaron Kokx, a Tesoro assistant who coached under Emme at CdM in

1999, remembered Contant then, and appreciated him now.

“I remember when he was an eighth-grader at our summer camp,” Kokx

said. “He was about 5-foot-4 and couldn’t throw hard enough to break

a pane of glass. For him to be pitching at Dodger Stadium is awesome.

He’s the kind of kid who shows you how you can grow and develop

through four years of high school.”