Coach Michael Groves of Monterey High School Receives the Golden Whistle Award

Team Taylor wants to congratulate Coach Michael Groves from Monterey High School for being awarded KSBW’s Golden Whistle Award. He started his coaching career as a favor and is now on his 39th season.  During his time, he has been able to win over 700 games, 18 league titles, 3 CCS Championships, has had multiple athletes sent to D1 programs and few have even gone to play professionally.

Coach Groves was nominated for being the spirit of baseball in the Monterey community.  Although he works full-time, he finds time to raise funds for the program,which is a zero budget program. During his time, he has raised over a million dollar to help low-income athletes and to upgrade Solicito Ball Park. It’s no wonder locals refer to baseball as “Grover Ball”.

Many of his student-athletes appreciate that he has instilled a team first mentality. Coach Groves has taught his team that it is not about personal stats, but about what you can do to help the team. He leads by example by working with colleges to advance his student’s baseball careers and is always reaching out to his team to ensure their emotional health. He is most recognized for a CCS game with his former student Frank Solicito, who the MHS’s field is named after.

“When Frank Solicito Jr. was dying of leukemia as a Senior on the MHS baseball team, Coach Groves visited him in the hospital frequently. During his last CCS game, he took off his jersey for Frankie to come off the bench and pitch the last inning. This game would be Frankie’s last time in a MHS uniform and he got to do what he loved to do..pitching!”

Congratulations Coach Groves! You’re an inspiration to us all!