Legion coach brings positive attitude

      He patrolled the same center field as Ken Griffey Jr., but that's as close as Pahrump American Legion coach Rich Lauver came to realizing his dream of making it to the majors leagues.
      Lauver, who in 1993 led Pahrump Valley High School to its only league baseball title in the last 17 years, may not have fulfilled his own diamond dreams -- he suffered an assortment of injuries in college -- but the 24-year-old baseball addict has funneled his passion for the game into the lives of youngsters throughout the valley.
      That love of the game helped the enthusiastic coach guide the Nevada Bell Dust Devils to a 32-4 record and the American Legion 2A state championship in his --and Pahrump's -- inaugural season last year.
      The Devils have been equally impressive this season, kicking off their campaign with eight straight victories to run their winning streak to 20 before suffering a loss to Cimarron-Memorial High of Las Vegas.
      "We set unrealistic goals and then reach them," Lauver said. "(Winning the state title) was huge. It was positive. But I'm still not satisfied -- until all the players understand work ethic, until all the players reach the next level, whether in baseball or in life. ... If nothing else, I instill a positive and aggressive work ethic that will help in anything they use in life."
      Lauver has always been a hard worker. In high school, he took 300 cuts a day in a batting cage he built in his back yard and played nearly 200 games a year for his high school, Legion, fall league and Las Vegas Baseball Academy teams.
      The hard work paid off as Lauver set 27 Pahrump Valley records. He earned conference MVP honors as a senior, batting .547 and set the school's single-season records with nine triples, 40 stolen bases, 43 runs and 32 walks. He also cracked four homers in leading the Trojans to a 20-9 mark and the league championship.
      Lauver was invited to try out for 10 major league teams. He eventually auditioned for 24 big league clubs overall and six squads stayed in contact with him. The Cleveland Indians expressed the most interest, telling the left-hander if he could learn to throw right-handed and put on 20 pounds of muscle, he had a spot at second base in their system.
      "But it didn't pan out. By the time I got the pounds and the muscle, injuries took over," he said. "Every time the draft showed up, I was injured."
      Lauver received letters from nearly 50 colleges after high school, including UNLV and the University of Arizona, but, with little scholarship money available, he opted for Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, Calif.
      He hit .352 as a freshman, but his season was cut short when he fractured his hand bare-handing a line drive. It was the beginning of the end of his dream.
      Lauver rehabilitated his hand before his sophomore year, but hurt it again while batting in a fall game, tearing a tendon as he fought off an inside pitch. He had surgery shortly thereafter and, despite coming back to hit .390 in the spring, never regained his form.