Hart baseball coach Jim Ozella has become well-acquainted with the title of Foothill League champion.
The Indians won the program’s 36th league title last week and gave coach Ozella his ninth title and a win in his final Foothill game.
Ozella doesn’t ever turn off being a coach and has loved every minute of the day-to-day life of guiding young baseball players.
“I love going out on the field and being able to coach,” Ozella said. “I’ve done the paperwork, the organization, controlling three levels, dealing with a lot of different kids, and grades. I’m 24/7. I’m not good at turning things off. I love when I go on the field I get a chance to coach guys. I’m a good coach, and I get a chance to get my hands on and get down to the nitty gritty, I really enjoy that. It’s always been my passion.”
Ozella is known for being one of the best in the business after over 400 wins, helping hundreds of student-athletes play college baseball with some even reaching the big leagues.
Hart’s 2024 seniors are loaded with college-bound seniors like Michigan commit Brayden Jefferis, Biola-bound Taj Brar and soon-to-be Cal Poly San Luis Obispo pitcher Troy Cooper.
“It’s difficult but rewarding,” Cooper said about playing for Ozella. “He’s very old school. He’s got a lot of knowledge. He does push you to the extreme whether it’s a good thing or where you’re exhausted. It’s really put us in the situation of thinking, ‘If we can go through him, we can accomplish anything in our lives and college baseball.’ He’s very supportive. He’ll push you a lot but will pick you up when you need it.”
Jefferis has played on varsity for his entire high school career and has seen the impact Ozella has had on not just his life, but his teammates’ lives.
“Playing for coach Ozella is great,” Jefferis said. “There’s always ups and downs as you would have with anyone but it’s different. You can tell he truly cares about this as much if not more than us, and it’s great having a coach who wants to win for you more than he wants to win for himself.”
Ozella was named the head coach in 2000, replacing CIF champion Bud Murray. Now, 468 wins and nine league titles later, the coach is ready to call it a career.
Numerous coaches have shown their respect for Ozella, including Saugus’ Carl Grissom, who honored the Hart skipper before the two faced off back in March.
“The coaching fraternity is a cool group of guys, who sacrifice a ton of their lives to provide for their kids,” Ozella said. “I’ve always been very proud to be in the fraternity. This year, a lot of them have reached out to me and it’s greatly appreciated.
“I love the challenge of coaching and it’s one thing I’ll probably miss but right now I got five worldly challenges to meet,” he added, referring to the five rounds in the CIF playoff bracket.
After the West Ranch series, Hart needed just one win to secure at least a share of the Foothill League title. Ozella made sure to fire up his guys but still keep them locked for the Canyon series knowing nothing is given in this league.
“My favorite memories are definitely days before big games and his speeches,” Jefferis said. “He’s really good at pumping us up and keeping us focused on the big picture. Like last week, even though we beat West Ranch, he made sure to keep us focused on Canyon because we needed that series to take league. He made sure we knew it was ‘in our hands’ and that it was right there for us and for the taking. Those speeches are some great memories along with the advice that you can’t lose focus of things and we have to lock in until it is time to really celebrate.”
Ozella always made time for his players, giving them advice to prepare for big games on the diamond or in life.
“There’s been personal mental advice of just never having any negative self-talk about yourself, which is huge,” Cooper said. “He keeps reminding us that this isn’t just a game. It’s gonna be something you use and take from each day in your life, and it’s just up to you how you’re going to handle things. You can see it as either super hard or you can see it as a lesson to learn, whether it’s a great thing that happens or something that’s pretty difficult, he just teaches you how to go up there and give it your all.”
Whether it was preparing guys like Jefferis for life in college or preparing James Shields and Tyler Glasnow for the MLB draft, Ozella always aimed to simply give his players a good experience while giving helpful advice for life.
“I just want our guys to come out of our program with a positive experience,” Ozella said. “To me, when they walk out and are able to say, ‘This was important to me.’ I want our kids to grow from what they’ve done in my program, grow from their relationships and grow from their friendships that they’ve made on this team.”
Hart enters the Division 2 playoffs this week with hopes of one more special sendoff.
