Westlake JV baseball coaches leave program amid questions

Robert Gerig was mowing the baseball diamond at Westlake High, prepping the field for a Monday afternoon practice.

Minutes later, Gerig and his son Joey were no longer coaches for Westlake's junior varsity baseball team.

Their sudden and unexpected removal has raised more questions for a Warrior baseball program that endured the turbulent departure of former varsity coach Mike Lee last season and has had four varsity coaches in four years.

According to the Gerigs, Westlake athletic director Jim Benkert and varsity baseball head coach Zach Miller approached the father and son for an informal meeting on the bleachers around 2 p.m., Mon., April 28.

"The first things out of (Benkert's) mouth as we're walking to the bleachers are, 'You know, you're not fired . . .'" Robert Gerig said earlier this week from his Thousand Oaks home.

"He said there's been a problem, or a situation, that arose with a player who has made threats against players, and you (coaches) and against a dad. . . . We're going to have to let you go because of your safety until we figure this out."

Joey Gerig, 21, then clarified what Benkert meant by "threats."

"I know for a fact it's death threats," the younger Gerig said. "During the season, players came up to me and said, 'I'm scared for my life. (The player's) going to kill me.'"

That's where Benkert disagreed.

"There's nothing in the form of a death threat," said Benkert, who refused to elaborate on why the Gerigs were dismissed from the program.

According to Detective Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department, no incidents of a death threat were reported.

Benkert also declined to tell the Acorn who replaced the Gerigs, advising reporters to "talk to the district."

After last Thursday's practice, a freshman player said varsity assistant Kenny Carroll was going to coach the squad's final three games. The JV season ended Wednesday.

Miller also declined to say why the Gerigs were no longer coaching or what prompted the decision.

Joey Gerig, a 2005 Thousand Oaks High graduate who pitched two years of varsity baseball for the Lancers, said JV players approached him "three or four times throughout the season" about a teammate who threatened to purchase a gun and potentially inflict physical harm on them.

Gerig said he approached Miller about the troubled player on Thurs., April 24.

Miller talked with the player alone, but the coaches didn't receive any further instruction from the first-year varsity coach, the Gerigs said. The next day, the Warriors played a home game against Agoura without incident. Four days later, the Gerigs' season ended prematurely.

According to Robert Gerig, 46, the player in question had a history of demonstrative emotional episodes, crying in games when he wasn't inserted into the lineup, crying on the team bus and leaving the dugout in the middle of one game.

When the Gerigs watched a JV road game at Moorpark from the bleachers last Friday, they said every player on the roster was present, and the troubled player even played.

Joey Gerig, who returned home from a two-year Mormon mission to Tampa, Fla., in February, said he was baffled why he and his father were punished when there were no baseballrelated issues.

"It was very confusing how they get rid of us and not the problem," he said. "There are 18 kids on the team. How can one kid take away from two people not even close to the problem? You think you'd take away the problem, not two random people."

Immediately after the April 28 meeting, the Gerigs said they attempted to talk to their players, who were getting ready for practice, but Benkert intervened.

Later that night, confused parents called the Gerigs, asking why they left the team without saying anything. Robert Gerig speculated that Benkert didn't tell the players or parents why the coaches were removed.

Looking for answers, Robert Gerig called Westlake Principal Ron Lipari three times, but the principal didn't return any of Gerig's messages. (Lipari didn't return a phone call from the Acorn, either.)

At that point, Gerig sent an email to parents and players in the program last Wednesday, explaining why he and his son were no longer coaching.

"I didn't want false rumors to get spread everywhere," said Gerig, who has coached youth baseball in the Conejo Valley for more than 20 years.

"I had a right to get the truth out. My integrity is more important than anything."

The Acorn contacted several parents within the Westlake baseball program, but they declined to speak on the record.

The Gerigs were asked to coach the team a week before the season started. Robert Gerig volunteered his time to the program while his son was a paid employee of the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

The Gerigs said they would love to return to coaching soon, at Westlake or elsewhere.

"I would coach again because I love the game," said Robert Gerig, sporting a Westlake baseball cap and fleece pullover. "We respect the game, and we enjoy doing it."