On Saturday, January 24th, dozens upon dozens of Dons from the past and present gathered at the base of the baseball field stairs to honor former Dons baseball coach Dick Serrano with the dedication of the long awaited Serrano Plaza. The ceremony included a ribbon cutting with Coach Serrano, with the help of his granddaughter, holding the honor.
Some of the attendees to the dedication ceremony included former Dons who played under Coach Serrano. Players like Chris Richard (drafted by the Cardinals in 1995 and who is currently retired) and current San Diego Padre Carlos Quentin were at the event.
The idea for the plaza started nearly one year ago when a committee was formed to honor the long-time baseball coach who continues to work for CCHS in the athletic office. The committee included several former Don baseball players, some of whom, like multiple time MLB all-star Carlos Quentin, felt passionate for this cause.
“He’s selfless and this has been his life, so coming here and seeing this great field and seeing them add to this and get something that can memorialize what he means to this school, it’s a great day,” said Quentin.
The ceremony began with Ms. Eileen Clifton-Benjamin, Cathedral’s Director of Capitol Campaign, listing off the accomplishments of Coach Serrano during his coaching career at USDHS. At one point in his career, Coach Serrano held the title of the coach with the most wins in San Diego. Players under coach Serrano, like MLB players Chris Richard, Mark Prior, Carlos Quentin, and Barry Zito, left Uni. to have great success in major league baseball.
In his nearly 50 year coaching career, Coach Serrano coached baseball along with physical education, basketball, football, and cross-country.
“I never wanted to leave. When I first started in 1966, the idea back then was that faculty people would come and teach at our school for two or three years, and then move onto public schools. But we became such a tight knit group; after two to three years, we had a tremendous loyalty of faculty and coaches,” said Serrano.
The ceremony concluded with a prayer lead by Cathedral’s Fr. Kelly followed by a blessing of the plaza with holy water. The attendees then gathered in the USDHS library in the Cathedral campus for a reception where coach Serrano along with others spoke.
The plaza is not yet completed however; there are still several bricks with names of donors still to be laid. Along with those, a flagpole is also planned to be installed at some point in the near future.
Along with the plaza, a scholarship fund has been set up in the honor of Coach Serrano.