Marijon Ancich is one of the greatest high school football coaches ever, ranking second all-time in California history with 360 wins in a career that has exceeded 50 years on the sidelines.

Ancich, who along with his family fled to the United States from Yugoslavia during World War II, has been called “the John Wooden of football coaches” as he won several state and CIF titles, 19 league championships and even a National Championship.

In 1981, he was named the National Coach of the Year at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. where he won most of his games.

The legendary coach, who stepped away presumably for the last time in 2012, has also been instrumental in developing coaches—St. Paul has produced a “family tree” showing 116 coaches who either played or coaches under Ancich.

But one of the most successful of those is a championship winning coach you won’t find on the gridiron—you’ll find him on the softball fields of elite club events across the nation.

Mike Stith, head of the OC Batbuster organization that has 55 teams stretching from California all the way to Florida and another 25 tied in through Mizuno affiliations, played for Ancich from 1977-79.

A 5-foot-10, 179 pound center, Stith would earn All-L.A. Times honors his senior year and was named the Player of the Game in the prestigious 605 All-Star Game.

He credits his success today—which includes leading the OC Batbusters-Haning 18U team to the PGF Premier National Championship earlier this month—to having played for the legendary football coach.

“If you were around in Southern California during the 196’s and ‘70’s, you knew that St. Paul was a powerhouse as feared as any in football due to Marion Ancich. He ran a blue collar system where we were a family and felt like we were indestructible—we played like our life and families’ lives depended on it.”

The Swordsmen weren’t fancy, he explains. They just won.

“At St. Paul we were made fun of,” Stith recalls. “For example, we all had the black shoes going on. We weren’t flashy, we stayed low-key but we won. Today, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) is one of the top football programs in the country, but back then we beat them 12 years in a row.”

Stith didn’t just play for Ancich, he also coached under him for six years at St. Paul.

“I never went to college,” he explains, “I graduated from high school and went into coach and it was the best education you could get, being a part of the amazing things he taught us, like how to build a team and improve the commitment level of your players.”

Stith credits that early period as being a classroom in providing elements he’d implement in his softball coaching style and philosophies.

“I’m a true believer in the system I played for there and it’s a mentality that I’ve brought to softball.”

Here are four major areas Stith has brought football concepts successfully to softball.

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1. Play with Passion

One thing the Batbuster coach remembers being taught is how to appreciate the moment and the importance of savoring the experience as it’s happening.

“Coach Ancich would say, ‘You’ll never be a part of anything great than this,’ and he was right. He taught us to play and compete with passion and that’s how I am today. I’m very quiet most of the time, but I will lash out and unload on a player if I think it’s needed and it’s because of the passion taught to us by Marion.”

“The respect level was a lot different then as was the level of commitment to family and team. Marion would have us do three-a-days (practices), which today you’d get arrested for child abuse!”

“But hopefully some of that dedication and passion we teach today rubs on the players. I think it does, you seen a tight group like this year’s Batbuster championship team where everyone worked together as a family.”

2. Practice

Vince Lombardi once said, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect,” and Stith runs his practices like he was taught under Ancich—precise and with a purpose.

“We don’t try to master 47 things,” he stresses. “We were taught that if you’re good at five things you’ll be difficult to beat. I believe, and find it to be true, that if you’re strong in pitching, defense and hit strategically you’ll be successful. We don’t get caught up in the fanciness of trying to do everything.”

And the Batbuster coach says it’s imperative to go into a practice scripting what lies ahead.

“The biggest thing at practice is timing,” he continues. “We put together a practice plan and half of that will be the same every time; for example, we’ll work hard on fielding and on looking the ball into the glove.”

“Every week we’ll allot time for something new, but we always schedule time for repair, meaning something we need to touch on to make sure it’s ingrained in the players.”

Coach Stith goes back to his St. Paul football experiences to demonstrate another concept he presents in practices: having a purpose in everything done on the field.

“There’s never anyone standing around at practice not doing something. Maybe the pitchers at times, but they too are doing all the fielding drills. It’s constant motion and we go a lot quicker because it’s more precise like football. We blow the whistle when it’s time and move on, we don’t get bogged down in a drill or exercise. You get stuck on something, you’ll get stuck forever.”

3. Weight Training

Another football component brought to Stith’s softball workouts is weight training, which he feels has benefited his players not just at the club level but beyond for those going to the next level.

“We go three hours in our practices,” he explains, “and the first hour and a half will be lifting. It’s important to note, though, that we don’t just throw them into the weight room, we educate them on how to lift and lift properly.”

“Then, when they show up at colleges, they’ll be game ready and be physically ready for their team and for their preparation in the weight room. A coach knows he or she won’t have to go baby a kid because of a sore back or sore legs. They won’t have to worry that the players don’t know how to squat and workout. I give credit too in our program to the EM (training) staff who teach our players how to lift properly with PC pipes.”

4. Observing Opponent Tendencies

Marion Ancich picked up the nickname “Red-eye” at St. Paul because of his extensive study of film to look for tendencies and any hints of what an opponent might do to tip off a play.

It’s a skill that Stith learned after many, many hours of practice.”

“I was taught to scout because my job for a long time was to go out and evaluate teams up to nine hours a day. I could see if a quarterback had his mouthpiece out, they would run; if he had it in it’d be a pass. You look for these tendencies and I’ve implemented this in softball.”

“Most teams will tell you what they’re going to do. We observe the other teams and, because of my background, I have an eye for seeing what another team will do. Most don’t pay attention because it’s not in their blood, but we team our players how to read the opponent.”