The Class Of ’96 : Cypress Baseball Star Bobby Brito Says Football Is Fun, Worth the Risk

By MIKE TERRY

Sept. 12, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

CYPRESS —  

Risk-taking is as much a part of sports as wins and losses. Every time an athlete steps on the field he or she risks embarrassment or injury, as well as glorification and exultation.

Bobby Brito, who excels at baseball and football at Cypress High, is taking a big risk in this, his senior year.

Everyone who has seen Brito play baseball believes he has a future in pro ball. A 5-foot-9, 185-pound catcher, Brito’s 1995 season ranks among the best by a county player in recent years--a .500 batting average with 12 home runs.

Even though he is a three-year starter on the Cypress football team, too, it has been suggested to Brito that he concentrate solely on baseball his senior year to expand his potential.

Brito, 17, will have none of it.

“Football gets me in shape and keeps me in shape,” Brito said. “It keeps me busy. If I did baseball year around it would eventually drive me crazy. Football is fun.

“I couldn’t stop if I wanted to. Not until after high school. We’ll see what happens after high school.”

Cypress’ new football coach, Ted Hovorka, is definitely pleased Brito wants to play, because Brito might be his best athlete. Hovorka promises to take care of his star as much as possible.

“Baseball is his future. that’s his priority,” Hovorka said. “You’d think he’d have an attitude. But he’s a leader. He talks the talk and walks the walk. He’ll be starting tailback and will see the field on defense at linebacker.

“He’s too good and you don’t want to abuse him. He’ll get a few reps in practice and then watch. He runs against the air in practice. I don’t want to bang him up. That’s our obligation.

“As an athlete he’s as good a high school back as there is,” Hovorka continued. “His size would hurt in college; that’s what they say. But he’s fast, tough and has the moves. He’s a born player.”

If he concentrated solely on football he could be exulted there the way he is in baseball. He has played three years at Cypress as a halfback and linebacker. He also played quarterback for his Pop Warner teams.

“He’s unique; I’ve never seen anyone who can play all the different skill positions--punt, snap, throw, kick, catch tackle and run,” said John Selbe, a former Cypress football coach who is now an assistant at Kennedy High. “Injuries are the only thing that have kept him from most of the Cypress football records.”

Those injuries have included a severely bruised collarbone, a hurt knee and a bad shoulder. He has never played a full season of football at Cypress.

Brito has left an impression on those who have seen him play.

“I saw him in person as a sophomore when they were still in our league,” Los Alamitos football Coach John Barnes said. “I thought he was a tremendous running back with the potential to be incredible by the time he was a senior. Then in the summer passing league, he plays linebacker and covers every receiver we have. He’s really a gifted kid.”

Said Cypress baseball Coach Mark Steinert: “He is just a great athlete. Everything he does he could be good at--baseball, football, basketball, soccer. I played golf with him once and was sure he’d just try to hit the ball hard. But he also showed a good touch on the greens.”

There is no doubt, though, that baseball is what Brito does best.

He has averaged .467 in his three-year varsity career with 16 home runs, 82 runs batted in and 75 runs scored. His 27 career doubles are only three shy of the all-time county record set by Sonora’s Brian Greer (1974-77).

He and Mater Dei’s Mike Hessmen finished one home run short of the single-season county record established by Fullerton’s D.C. Olsen in 1990.

Brito was nearly unstoppable. He struck out only seven times in 113 plate appearances. His slugging percentage was an astonishing 1.200.

This, after what Brito considered an “off year” as a sophomore. He batted .349 then, after a sensational freshman season of .542.

“Last year was a good year,” said Brito, who has much more difficulty talking about himself than he does hitting a curveball. “I wanted to do better than my sophomore year. Some of it was due to the pitches I was getting, but I had also gotten a big head from my freshman year.

“Last season I was going to relax, take things as they come, and not stress out.”

It’s the batting prowess that has baseball people--high school and pro--waxing poetic.

Steve Gulotti, El Dorado’s coach, still shakes his head remembering the three home runs Brito hit off 10-game winner Ryan Jamieson in one game.

“He can hit. There’s no doubt,” Gulotti said. “He’s certainly as good as I’ve seen since I had Bret Boone. Good balance, power, and he learned to be selective last year. He’s fun to play against, but I won’t miss him too much when he graduates.”

Katella Coach Tim McMenamin is another who wants Brito to receive a diploma in June.

“I told him the last time we played them, ‘We have three more games against you and that’s it,’ ” McMenamin said. “It feels like he’s been there 20 years. He’s the most feared player in our league. Even when you have him fooled he still drives the ball.”

Said one major league scout, who has watched Brito since he was a freshman at Cypress and spoke on the condition of anonymity: “He has been the best [high school] hitter in Orange County the past three years. If you can hit, you always have a chance to make the major leagues. In my mind I don’t know what position he’d play. But he’s the only kid I’ve seen that can do things like they do in the pros.”

It is said that great hitters are born, not made. Brito certainly helps the argument.

First there are the bloodlines. His father, Gilbert Sr., was an outstanding track man at Western High; his 22.1-second 200-meter run in 1973 still ranks among the top 35 times in the county. Brother Gilbert Jr., 22, was a top athlete at Western and brother Michael, 20, starred at Cypress.

Brito said he became interested in baseball at age 5, when Gilbert Sr. let him watch and chase down balls at Sunday pickup games at Western High. He credits his brothers with teaching him how to play the game.

But neither gave Brito his baseball swing. That was a gift.

“Even in T-ball he could hit the ball hard,” says Kathy, his mom.

Along with his burgeoning skills, Brito showed a flair for the dramatic.

Brito hit his first home run at age 9--a majestic arc that sailed past the center-field fence, 210 feet from the plate.

At 12 he was a member of the Cypress all-star team that went to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. The team lost in the semifinals although Brito pitched a complete game.

Counting his Little League season, playoffs and World Series games, Brito played a total of 60 games and hit 40 home runs.

In his first varsity at-bat, Brito hit a grand slam. In his first two games he was six for eight with eight RBIs.

Last year against Century, he won the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. “The first time I’ve ever done that in my high school career,” said Brito citing the moment as last season’s favorite

While loathe to admit it--he never wants to come off bragging--Brito agrees that “I was probably born a hitter. It came easy to me.”

So does football. Expect for one minor detail.

Brito has not gone to the Southern Section playoffs with the Cypress football team as he has with the baseball squad. This is his last chance. That, to him, is worth the inevitable bumps and bruises that will occur.

“I feel we have a good chance this year,” Brito said. “Despite what people have said, we’re not a one-man team. And I don’t feel football will harm me for baseball, unless I blow out a knee.

“But I understand the risk.”

From the leader of the Class of ‘96, one would expect nothing less.