Baseball Works for the Valaikas

Neighbors who live near the Valaika family in Valencia never panic if their car alarms go off.

They have come to realize it’s one of the Valaika boys at play.

With each changing season, neighbors inquire, “What sports are you into,” so they’re ready for any flying objects that may be headed their way.

Baseballs are the No. 1 choice for the four brothers, all of whom are shortstops.

“I think everything in the house has been broken once--picture frames, lamps, vases,” their mother, Ilona, said.

Added father Jeff: “They do a lot of ground balls in the living room, fly balls in the kitchen.”

Chris Valaika of Newhall Hart High is no longer the ringleader of neighborhood games. He has become one of the best junior infielders in Southern California, a projected top college prospect for 2003.

“You don’t make the U.S. junior national team and win the gold medal unless you’re pretty good,” Hart Coach Jim Ozella said.

“He’s out there every day getting better. His work ethic is unbelievable.”

He’s the big brother to four siblings, all of whom are athletically inclined.

There’s Matt, 13; sister Briana, 11; Patrick, 9; and Nicky, 6.

The children are involved in so many practices and athletic competitions that their mother has a color-coded, industrial-sized calendar hanging on a wall near the kitchen to keep track of everyone’s schedule.

“She’s the drill sergeant of the family,” Chris said.

Ilona was in charge of Hart’s snack bar last season and recruited her children to help.

They’d step out of the family van carrying sodas, candy and hot dog buns.

“It was like watching the mother duck and the ducklings,” Ozella said.

Jeff Valaika served in the booster club and helped put together plans that culminated in the building of new dugouts for Hart’s baseball field.

The dugouts cost $50,000, all of which was donated by community members.

Chris, a 6-foot, 170-pound 16-year-old, is setting impressive standards for what’s expected of an older brother.

He doesn’t complain about having to share his bedroom with Matt and Patrick, even when the two brothers put their ears against the door and try to eavesdrop on phone conversations with his girlfriend.

He cherishes his moments of playing hide-and-seek with Nicky, even when Nicky falls asleep under a table or in a closet.

He doesn’t mind serving as the boys’ personal hitting coach or driving them to practices when his mother and father are too busy. No one told him he had to be a role model for his siblings--he just is.

“Chris is nice to everybody,” Matt said.

Added Chris: “I have pressure to keep my cool and set a positive example. Whenever they need anything, they can come to my room and ask. I like helping them out whenever I can. Nicky is the one always around me. He comes into my room, hangs out, tries to mirror everything I do. I say something, and he says it for a week.”

Matt and Briana also play soccer, but baseball is the sport on which the family thrives, mostly because of Chris’ success.

He batted .411 with 10 doubles as a sophomore last season, when Hart finished 26-2.

He has become the leadoff hitter on this year’s team that is 2-0.

During the summer, he was voted the top second baseman at the World Youth Championships in Veracruz, Mexico. His skills and confidence keep building.

“I know now if I work hard enough, anything is possible,” he said. “I knew I was decent, but didn’t know how good I could be. It’s inspired me to keep getting better.”

Nicky doesn’t want Chris to go too far away for college, so the 6-year-old has already suggested a school close to home--College of the Canyons.

Matt isn’t concerned about Chris leaving because he wants his share of the bedroom.

Mom knows the truth about the brothers’ relationship.

“They have a special bond,” Ilona said.

“Chris kind of knows anything he does they emulate.”

When Matt, Patrick and Nicky started walking on the baseball field to take a photo with Chris a couple weeks ago, Ozella shouted, “Here come the Valaikas.”

Teammates started teasing Chris. Most older brothers would have been embarrassed.

Not Chris.

There was pride in his face. He knows there will be Valaikas playing baseball for Hart through 2014, and he’s showing the way for his younger brothers.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at [email protected].