When I met with Daren Espinoza, Colton High School’s new baseball coach, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The baseball field was empty and he was getting ready for practice. I was curious and also ready to learn about his story.
Daren Espinoza was a head coach and a teacher for 30 years until he retired in 2024. After spending a year “doing his own thing,” he was approached by Colton High’s Athletic Director, Mike Reh, with the idea to take over the Yellowjacket’s baseball team. The two used to coach against one another when Reh managed for Grand Terrace High. And they’ve maintained a strong friendship since.
“I didn’t really choose Colton,” Espinoza said. “Colton High chose me.”
Before he became a coach, Espinoza was first teacher. During his 30 year career, he worked with a wide range of students, but most notably he spent time investing in English Language Learners. During the last seven years of his career, he served Redlands East Valley as their EL Coordinator.
During all of that time, however, he dedicated himself to coaching baseball.
Since childhood, Espinoza played baseball. He played in high school for San Gorgonio High, and that earned him a college scholarship to San Bernardino Valley College. After graduating from Redlands University, he went into teaching, and waited three years before coaching so he could focus on becoming a good classroom teacher “without adding more to my plate.”
Once he “figured that out,” he started coaching. “It was a natural progression for me,” Espinoza said about transitioning from the classroom to the diamond.
His first coaching job was at Rialto in 1998. He stayed there for 17 years. After leaving Rialto, Espinoza taught and coached at Citrus Valley High, and then for a year at Redlands East Valley before his retirement.
However, baseball isn’t all of his life. When Espinoza was a kid his father always told him to balance out his life. His dad was a musician, so Espinoza learned to play several instruments. One of Espinoza’s favorites was the guitar, and now he continues to play it and has four of them. He explores all kinds of music, and has a lot of fun doing so.
In addition to playing music, Espinoza also reads a ton. Around 20 books a year. He especially enjoys novelist John Grisham and his legal thrillers, like “The Firm,” “The Chamber,” and “The Pelican Brief.”
“I have read every book he has written,” Espinoza said about Grisham. Another writer he enjoys is James Patterson.
What Espinoza wants to make known is how baseball changed his life and that everything in his life that’s good is because of baseball.
“You can’t just play,” he says. “You have to put your whole heart into the game.”
Espinoza is not just a coach, He wants his players to understand that high school years are short and would like them to look back and talk about how playing baseball for coach Espinoza was one of the best highlights of high school.