The Times' All-Star baseball team: Matt Mowry is coach of the year

In 17 seasons as baseball coach at Lake Balboa Birmingham High, Matt Mowry has never won a West Valley League title. His focus is on winning City Section championships, and his team delivered a fifth title this season with a 3-1 win over Carson at Dodger Stadium.

It was his most emotional season yet.

Last January, he still didn't know if he would coach. He had to meet with his two teenage children to decide if it would be OK to coach after the death of his wife and their mother, Amy, from cancer.

They supported him continuing to coach.

The season ended with hugs and tears at Dodger Stadium. Mowry had helped guide his team to a championship despite losing his best player, Gavin Taylor, right before the semifinals because he participated in a pro baseball workout. His replacement, Edgar Leon, got two hits in the championship game.

There also was his handling of pitcher Kaden Taque, who won seven consecutive games after getting only one out in the first inning of a game against Granada Hills on March 28.

Mowry has been selected The Times' coach of the year for making it through the trials and tribulations of a challenging year.

"There were a lot of emotional moments through the season, like looking in the stands at USC and Dodger Stadium," he said. "I'd always make eye contact with Amy and she wasn't there. It was an emotional roller coaster of a ride."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.