Bellarmine College Prep is an all-boys school in a leafy neighborhood of San Jose. It's located near the small College Park train station immortalized in Jack London's 1903 novel, "Call of the Wild."
Bellarmine until the mid-1980s had dorms and attracted, among others, the sons of Bing Crosby who traveled up from Los Angeles and former pro quarterback Dan Pastorini, who came from Sonora. It's said Pastorini could throw a football 85 yards and once, on a dare, threw a baseball over a 10-story building at Santa Clara University, where he later attended.
At Bellarmine, Central Coast Section championships and scholars are about as plentiful as backpacks, with the average SAT score sitting at 1,889 and 95 percent of its students going on to four-year institutions.
But sometimes all that thinking isn't good. Take baseball star Antonio Garcia, a talented, rising senior second baseman with a good bat and sure glove. He's known for hitting line drives and tracking them down in the field -- when he isn't fretting over his performance and second-guessing himself.
"I love baseball because you can fail seven out of 10 times and still be successful," Garcia said. "You just have to work hard to get where you want to be."
This weekend the Bellarmine two-sport star -- he's also a football standout -- will be at Santa Clara University's Schott Stadium, playing for the North against the South in the prestigious California Baseball Coaches' Association series for rising seniors. There are games at 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
Garcia knows that area between his ears sometimes operates on overdrive, prompting the attention of both Bellarmine assistant coach Nate Sutton and head coach Mike Rodriguez.
"Coach Nate played for Bellarmine and at UCSB and in the Angels' organization and he helps me get my mindset where it needs to be," said Garcia, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound infielder. "He tries to get me out of my own head. He feels like if I'm into my head too much it will affect my play."
Not that Garcia's play is bad or anything. He hit .273 as a junior while playing the majority of his of his games in the stellar West Catholic Athletic League. And to make the CBCA all-star series, he had to shine among the some-300 players trying out at St. Mary's-Stockton High.
But Garcia and his coaches know he can do better.
"What I really like most about Antonio is his passion and effort for the game," Rodriguez said. "He is obviously not the biggest or the fastest, but he plays with confidence, passion and tremendous effort. He possesses many good baseball qualities like good speed, arm strength, and bat speed.
"I think he has a high ceiling in the game of baseball, but like everyone there are areas he can improve upon. For me the two things that we work on are controlling the controllable. When you play with that kind of passion and the game does not reward you it can be easy to get down or discouraged. But understanding that you are playing a game of failure can go a long way in minimizing the valleys and hopefully staying more on an upward trend."
Rodiguez also wants Garcia to improve a few non-thinking parts of the game, his lateral foot speed and his release.
"(That) will allow him to really grow as a middle infielder," he said.
Garcia's uncle, Ryan VanAmburg, played at rival St. Francis High as well as Pepperdine University and also competed in the CBCA series. His dad, Eddie, played baseball for the Lancers as well. The Bell star considered enrolling at the Mountain View private school, but was lured to Bellarmine by the school's gridiron success.
"I went to Bellarmine mainly because of football, but the whole experience has been great," Garcia said.
In the fall Garcia was in Bellarmine's offensive backfield rotation and scored eight touchdowns, while also shining as a defensive back on a 10-3 team that made the CCS Open title game. He knows baseball is his future, though.
"I like baseball," Garcia said. "I've come to the realization that with my size football is not a good path for me. I hope that I can play college baseball on the Division I level."
Given Garcia's nearly-3.0 grade point average and the promise he shows on the diamond, that Division I dream could become a reality -- if only he can stop thinking so darn much.
CBCA SERIES ROSTERS
NORTH
Jimmy Lemberger, Gilroy, P; Cole Tucker, Stockdale, INF; Antonio Garcia, Bellarmine, INF; Carter Aldrete, Monterey, INF; Dylan Carlson, Elk Grove, 1B;
Cameron Eden, Yuba City, INF; Nick Sheehan, Bullard, OF; Conner Roberts, De La Salle; P, Daniel Harrington, Pacific Grove, P; Matthew Frazier, Clovis North, OF,
Jared Pereira, Clovis, P; Dawson Bacho, San Marin, C; Colton Evans, Pitman, OF, Erek Bolton; Elk Grove, C; Schyler Sicoli, Monte Vista Christian, OF;
Joel Bustos, Sunnyside, P; Ryan Jensen, Salinas, P; Angelo Bortolin, Serra, INF; Rogelio Reyes, Logan, P; Nick Sparks De La Salle P.
SOUTH
Daniel Cope, Mt. Carmel, C; Adrian Damla, Crescenta Valley, 1B; Kenny Brawner, Moorpark, P; Cole Henderson, Valhalla, 3B; Daniel Martinez, Ramona Riverside, INF; Zachary Sherman, Ramona San Diego P/3B;
Matthew Ornelia, Vista, OF; Russell Grant, Oceanside, P; Zach Weller, Coronado, INF; Brandon Stewart, Great Oak, OF; Isaiah Davis, Carter, OF;
Parker Brahms, Calabasas, P; Dylan Spacke, Ramona San Diego, P; Bryson Spagnuolo, Fallbrook, P; Tyler Pritchard, Temescal Canyon, INF; Zach Noll, Great Oak, P;
Daniel Gutierrez, St. Augustine, C; Cal Hodgins, Simi Valley, OF; Christian Koss, North, INF; Grant Nechak, Calabasas, P/1B.
