Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
All season long Sara Prokop had been more than merely a team mom to her twin boys Ben and Joe and the rest of the Pinto Tigers.
She was also their head coach and on May 31 she and they made history by capturing the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association championship at the Field of Dreams. Prokop became the first woman to lead a team to victory in the World Series since Bob Benton took over as Commissioner in 1989. In fact, she was the first lady to do so since Carol Wallin piloted the Expos to the league’s Intermediate Division title 42 years earlier.
“The best part for me was being able to share that experience with my twins [Ben and Joe],” Prokop said after the Tigers’ thrilling 9-8 triumph over the American League rival Royals in the clinching game. “All the rest was like icing on the cake.”
Prokop also served as an assistant coach for her boys’ PPBA All-Star teams in the summer—Ben and Joe on the 8U squad and her oldest son Jack on the 10U, which hosted the Pony Section 1 playoffs June 29-July 3 at the Field of Dreams. The 8Us made the finals of the District 4 playoffs, won the Section 2 playoffs, were runners-up in the Region playoffs and qualified for the Super Region Tournament in Moreno Valley.
Prokop, who played four seasons of NCAA Division I softball at Cal State Northridge, was an assistant for Jack’s Pinto Red Sox and Mustang Tigers teams and decided the time was right to coach her younger boys.
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