MidValleySports.Com

Max Pineda drives to the hoop. He is a two-sport star at South El Monte. (Photo by Duane Barker).

By George Hernandez

I sat down with another area athlete. South El Monte’s Max Pineda is a four-year varsity basketball player and a three-year varsity baseball player. This past season he averaged 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists on the court and is currently batting .280 and has a 3.32 ERA on the baseball diamond.

Q: What’s up kid, how’s it going?
A: What’s up Coach Big George. It’s going great. I have been having fun in my last year which is now less then 2 months from being over which is crazy to me.

Q: How has your senior year in sports been treating you so far?

A: Sports this year has been the craziest year of my life for sure. I got to compete in a CIF championship which is very rare for anyone to do but coming from South El Monte it was our first time even being there for basketball. And baseball has been great so far. My team is fun to play with.

Q: Having two parents as teachers – how tough is that?

A: Having both parents as teachers is really fun. Since they both teach high school they get all the new trends and memes so it’s laughs around the house all the time. But I really am so grateful for my parents. They come to practically all my games. I could count on one hand how many times they missed a game which is hard for them to do because you never know when they have a meeting or whatever else. And shoutout my dad who was able to be a part of the basketball staff and we shared a championship run together.

Q: What has been your greatest victory and toughest defeat so far in your high school year in either sport?

A: My greatest victory has to be playing in that championship game. I say it over and over again but it really meant so much to me. That was the second championship I’ve been in because I was grateful to be a part of the baseball run my sophomore year even though I did not play. But that basketball championship I was a starter and really was able to play and try and lead my team to a win. Victor Valley really had a tough team and we couldn’t get an easy shot off of those guys.

My toughest loss was ending my basketball season in San Diego this year. We took a far drive out to a college campus which was really cool to play at. Even though it wasn’t just the arena, to play at a college was cool. But after all we did lose and it was a tough one for me because I gave it my all and I had 17 points and it was a really close game. At one point I hit three- three pointers in a row and that really gave me the confidence to say we were going to win, but then I got pulled out the game and we practically lost the lead. I had the only points that quarter. Then I got my first tech of my life that game because the referees wouldn’t give a call to us. At one point they called a timeout for the other team while the ball was in my hands so it was a really frustrating loss. We had two things going against us – the opposing team and the refs. That game was also very loud which made it fun to play in even if it was the opposing crowd talking to me. I loved the pressure.

Q: Is there anyone you model your game after?

A: I would like to say I model my game after Curry but I do play more like Klay Thompson where I’m a catch and shoot shooter. But I would say my game is pretty unique. I know I wasn’t the best on my team but I would try to make any little impact I could make and I felt like I would really come up clutch in many games. Even if I only had 3 points it would be the 3 points that would put us up with minutes or seconds to spare. 

Q: How would your coaches and teammates describe you?

A: I feel like my teammates and coaches in both sports would say I’m a team player. In basketball if my job for the game was to rebound or play defense I’ll do it and in baseball if my job is to bunt or sacrifice I will try my hardest to do it. I would also believe they would say I’m clutch where I come up in moments where we need something the most. I’m able to provide good performances in big situations like the CIF runs where I would be providing a good showing in basically each game. Even in the Edgewood game where I added six points in a one point victory. They would also say I’m their favorite driver.

Q: If you were able to only pick one sport to play in high school, what would it have been and why?

A: This is such a tough question. I was only supposed to play baseball coming into high school because that was the sport I thought I would be best at. But one day before my freshman year I was told by my friends to come to a basketball practice, so I did and turns out I was good enough to make varsity as a freshman. So I would choose basketball because I love the pressure, the crowd in the gym where you could hear the echo and the band and cheer yelling for you. That’s the best feeling to me.

Q: What are your plans after high school? Do you plan to continue playing sports?

A: I plan to major in accounting. Even though everyone says I’m going to be a teacher because of my parents, but I don’t think so. College ball in either sport is a dream and I would probably take any chance I get but I have not gotten any interest. I’m willing to play anywhere in any level of college, even JUCO or NAIA. For now I’m focused on the academic side of college.

Q: Anything else you would like to say or want us to know?

A: I would like to say that it’s been fun playing with my teams that most of us grew up in the same city and went to the same elementary and middle school – shoutout to Shively. I would like everyone to know that South El Monte is a good place to be if you’re into sports. We seem to be on a roll with a lot of playoff runs. It does kind of suck that we have so many great high schools around us so that’s where a lot of great athletes go. Shoutout Coach Ron as he really impacted my high school career for the better. He deserves to be recognized for building that team that got us to the championship. Shoutout to my teammates as well. I couldn’t think of a funnier and better team to ever spend my time with. Y’all really are the reason I loved playing. That’s about it thanks y’all.