In a year like it was for San Pedro Prep Softball in 2015 where all three schools posted 20-win seasons before the playoffs, the best coaching job of them all came over at Mary Star High.

Coming into the 2015 season, the sixth for coach Gregg Aguilar, the Stars were predicted by some to finish second in the Camino Real League behind St. Monica of Santa Monica, but Mary Star would take two of three meetings with the Mariners to win their fourth league championship in five years, and reach the CIF-Southern Section Division V quarterfinals where they were eliminated 8-2 by San Dimas.

With the Stars going 22-4 overall in 2015 with a record of 8-1 in the Camino Real League, adding on to the fact that the first three Mary Star losses all came by the final score of 1-0, Aguilar is our San Pedro News Pilot 2015 Prep Softball Coach Of The Year. It's Aguilar's second honor after being the inaugural winner in 2012.

"It was a great experience being able to play for coach Gregg for four amazing years," Mary Star's George Mason-bound pitcher Marina Vitalich said. "When I would get frustrated with myself he was right there to pull me back in and remind me what was more important, drawing my focus back to the team and the game. I'm truly going to miss playing for him because he had a big part in making me the player I am today."

Aguilar has coached for 24 years total, even getting started at the tender age of 16 with the California Quake travel team, and by his 19th birthday, he got his first varsity coaching job at Los Amigos High in Fountain Valley, coaching there for four years (1996-1999). 

From there, Aguilar took a two-year absence to start coaching his oldest daughter Soliel Atenza in 8U through recreation ball and travel before taking the Mary Star coaching job in 2010. In his six years with the Stars, Aguilar posted a 106-48 record, making the CIF-SS playoffs all six years, and winning the Camino Real League in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Also in Aguilar's leadership he had a solid 3-1 record against the other fellow schools in town, completing a rare sweep in 2012 defeating both San Pedro and Port Of Los Angeles.

One game in particular that Aguilar recalls as his finest game, was the 2013 CIF-SS Division V quarterfinal battle with top-seeded and two-time defending champion Pomona Catholic, where the Stars, who lost in the second round to Shadow Hills of Indio, only to be reinstated because of Shadow Hills doing an illegal batting practice before their game, would upset the highly-regarded Pacers with a 5-0 victory.

Cassie Demers hit a towering two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning for the emphatic close to what was a brilliant five-hit shutout performance from Vitalich.

"We had to prove to everyone that we deserved to be there," Aguilar said. "Reading comments from multiple people saying 'it's okay, they are gonna lose to Pomona Catholic anyway', made that win just a bit sweeter."

That 2013 team would not stop from there, taking down fourth-seeded Rosamond in the semifinals before finally falling 8-4 to Bell-Jeff of Burbank in the CIF-SS Division VI championship game.

"2013 was such an incredible ride and I was so proud of that group of young ladies," Aguilar said. "I tell everyone that the team was not the strongest talent-wise as others I've coached, but it was the best TEAM. That group was the most selfless group I've coached. They got along so well and understood the need for each other to be successful. It was truly an honor to be able to coach that team and represent Mary Star the way we did."

Aguilar's final four teams at Mary Star in the Marina Vitalich-era all made at least the CIF-SS quarterfinals regardless if it was Division V or VI, with the losses in 2012 & 2014 coming at the hands of the eventual champion.

The 2015 team also won the Duarte Tournament championship and saw the culmination of their new field on-campus thanks to a year-long dream of dedication, prayer and generous donations. The Stars won their first game on their new field with a 4-0 victory over Morro Bay in the first round of the CIF-SS Division V playoffs on May 21.

"I'm not so sure we reached beyond our limits this year," Aguilar says of the 2015 Stars. "We had a solid group of young ladies. The challenge was mixing the incoming freshmen, and a transfer (Gigi Gentile from POLA) in with our returners as fast as we did. We had a small window to gel before we played our first game because the girls basketball team played into the playoffs. As we continued to play, we continued grow together."

Aguilar not only had Marina Vitalich, the Camino Real League Pitcher & Player Of The Year to lean on, as Gentile, Amanda Vitalich, Lexie Geich (the only other senior on the 2015 team), Natasha Lomeli, Gianna Fletcher, Isabella Samperio and Miranda Marquez who shined for him as all-league selections.

After the loss to San Dimas, Aguilar has decided to step down as the coach of Mary Star softball, and support his rising star of a son in Noah Atenza, who is a standout junior swimmer at Mary Star, along with his other two sons in J.R. & Troy Aguilar in their respective sports.

"I will miss everything," Aguilar says. "I know that is pretty broad but I'll miss the game itself, the girls, the community that supports the team, and the administration that supported us. I had six very fun and successful years there and I wish the school and the program many more years of success."

The legacy Aguilar left from his tenure at Mary Star will never be forgotten.

"I'm glad I got to spend four years doing what I love with a coach that was passionate, not only about the game but about being a leader," Geich said. "Gregg emphasized that not only words but actions speak to character. He's taught me lessons on and off the field and I'm truly blessed to have been able to play for him."