SRV Alumni Baseball Game Brings Together Five Decades of Former Players

In a way, Mike Myers is responsible for putting Danville baseball on the map. As a 12-year-old in 1978, he helped lead San Ramon Valley Little League to a national title and an appearance in the Little League World Series championship game against Taiwan.

Al Michaels, Brooks Robinson and Keith Jackson called the action on ABC as Myers took the mound for an SRV team that hadn't lost a game all year.

"It was single-elimination back then," Myers said. "We won something like 16 games in a row to get there."

SRV ended up losing 11-1, but the foundation for future success was laid.

Myers went on to play three years of varsity baseball for coach Rick Steen at San Ramon Valley High from 1981 to 1983 and then at U.C. Santa Barbara before getting drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 27th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft.

On Saturday, at 44-years-old, Myers was back on the mound at San Ramon Valley High as the starting pitcher for the alumni squad in the school's first  alumni baseball game.

"I coach my son's team (in Granite Bay), so I play a lot of catch," Myers said. "My arm is in decent shape, it was my legs that got tired."

Saturday's festivities were more about reuniting old friends and helping the current team understand the program's illustrious history than the actual game, but — at times — there was some good ball being played.

"There were guys out here I haven't seen in 20 years," Myers said. "It was really well organized, we didn't get blown out and no one got hurt."

After two innings, Myers gave way to 2000 graduate Matt Brown, who later played at Cal and was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 22nd round of the MLB draft in 2004.

For San Ramon coach Chris deClerq, an alumni game has been something he wanted to happen since taking over for Steen in 2008.

"It's a good chance for our kids to see who came before them," he said. "Especially with all the great alumni that SRV has."

The day featured a meet-and-greet, a hitting competition, tri-tip on the barbecue and finally a nine-inning game, which the varsity squad won 7-3.

"Our parents did everything," deClerq said. "They did all the work to make this happen."

Vail Dutto, whose son Max Dutto hit a homer in the game and a walk-off homer to beat Monte Vista earlier in the week, was primarily responsible for rounding up the alumni, which ranged from class of 1953 to 2008.

Dick Carlson, from the class of 1953, threw out the first pitch and 1978 graduate and former California State Assemblyman, Guy Houston, was in attendance, but did not play.

Steen, who now coaches at De La Salle in Concord, was unable to make it because the date conflicted with a three-game showcase the Spartans' were hosting at the Oakland Coliseum.

He originally planned on coaching the alumni squad, but rain on the original date pushed the event to Saturday. San Ramon defeated Steen's De La Salle team 4-3 at Rick Steen Ballpark on Friday.

"I spoke with him a lot this week and he made sure I told everyone that he's sorry he had to miss it, but would definitely be there next year," deClerq said.

Craig Raggio, whose brother Brady Raggio played in the Major Leagues with the Cardinals and Diamondbacks, served as the manager for the alumni team.

Raggio is one of four SRV alums to play in the big leagues along with Randy Winn ('92), Nate Schierholtz ('02) and Josh Butler ('03).

Alumni roster

1953 — Dick Carlson

1978 — Guy Houston

1981 — Steve Nelson

1983 — Brett Augood

1983 — Greg DeMain

1983 — Mike Myers

1983 — Mark Towns

1986 — Derek Helgeson

1986 — Jamie Karg

1987 — Joe Marsac

1987 — Craig Raggio

1990 — Brady Raggio

1993 — Brian Chinn

1995 — Jared Klein

1997 — Ryan Wyckham

1997 — Rick Hanson

1998 — Brett Hertig

1999 — Tony Festa

2000 — Matt Brown

2001 — Rich Chinn

2002 — Greg Fortayon

2002 — Casey Rivers

2007 — Ryan Lucas

2008 — Jared Dorrance