A Peninsula tennis dynasty

Howard's dad, Gil, won the event the previous three years with Scott's oldest brother, Mike. No pressure or anything. The Howards rolled through the 70-team field, reaching the final without dropping a set. But the championship match was a dogfight, and it culminated in a third-set tiebreaker.

Up 6-4 in the tiebreak and serving on match point, Scott unleashed a big serve that drew a weak return straight to Gil, who put away the sitting volley to clinch the match. Shortly thereafter both father and son embraced as tears welled in their eyes.

"It was pretty cool because (unlike a lot of U.S.T.A. tournaments), the Father and Son tournament is a different atmosphere," said Scott Howard, a San Mateo resident for the last two years who was born in South San Francisco and prepped at El Camino High. "It's still a high level of play but there's not as much cheating (on line calls). Tennis has really been something that bonded us together and it made it easy for us to do things together, which is pretty neat."

Talk about a tennis dynasty. One would be hard-pressed to find a group of more accomplished tennis standouts in one family. To wit: Scott, 43, was the No. 1 player at San Francisco State and is currently ranked No. 7 in the U.S.T.A. men's 40-and-over division. Both of Howard's older brothers -- Mike (49) played at USF and Kevin (47) at Foothill College with Brad Gilbert -- who later went on to play on the ATP Tour.

Howard's sister, Susan, 45, also played No. 1 singles for the women's team at SFSU. Then there's Gil, 69, who has won 13 national championships and a formerly the top-ranked player in the 55-and-over division.

After teaming with Scott to win the Father and Son tournament in '89, Gil won the title again with Kevin a couple of years later, making him the only father in history to win the event with three different sons. All five members of the family are certified tennis instructors.

A tennis dynasty indeed.

"It's pretty special," Scott said. "It's pretty hard to have everyone in the family playing the same sport at such a high level and we're all fortunate we did so well. My dad was very influential in my career, as well as my two brothers."

Baseball was actually Howard's first true love. He played Little League growing up but soon turned to tennis full-time at 14. It was always love at first serve for Howard, who is currently in Tucson, Ariz., coaching most of the top 12-and-under players in Northern California in the Pacific Zone team championships.

Howard is the tennis director at Stonebrae Country Club in Hayward and a certified U.S.T.A. level 1 pro -- the highest teaching level possible. He's also on the U.S.T.A. NorCal's Board of Directors and the seeding coordinator for the NorCal men's 35 and 40's events.

But we're not done yet. Howard also served two Division I women's head-coaching stints, at USF and University of the Pacific. While it took a lot of hard work, the stars were aligned for Howard to succeed in all facets of tennis. For years he had a frontrow view to one of the best coaches around -- his dad, who coached a number of players who went on to become pros.

"I was a smart tennis player before I was actually (physically) great at it because I grew up watching high-level tennis," Howard said.

Now Howard imparts his wisdom to players of all ages. But he takes particular satisfaction in coaching youth teams because he knows he can make a difference in their development. The three local players on the NorCal zone team include Alexa Corcoleotes (Hillsborough), Scott Taggart (Hillsborough) and Eric Dennis (Foster City). Howard loves what tennis can teach to an athlete.

"I like the attributes an individual sport brings to an athlete," he said. "In tennis, it's all on you. You can't blame a teammate because everything is on your shoulders. Because of that you develop skills and learn how to think and get through tough times on your own."

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The players on the San Mateo Palomino baseball team have basically played for six consecutive months without a break.

They started practice with their respective high school squads in February and when the prep season was over they went straight to summer league action. Some of them might be nursing season-long, nagging injuries, but there's no rest for the weary.

That's because the White Sox are one step away from the Palomino World Series. They open up the six-team, double-elimination West Zone tournament on Saturday at Santa Clara's Washington Park. Only the winner advances to Palomino's showcase event. Win or lose, they'll play Sunday and hopefully longer. San Mateo last reached this stage three years ago. Coach Lenny Souza knows what it would mean if the White Sox could advance to the World Series.

"It would be incredible," he said. "If that happens, there will be kids lining up around the corner (of my home) to play Palomino next year."

Souza said his team won't be the most talented squad in the field, but if it plays well and gets a few breaks, San Mateo could make a historic run. Souza considers the Santa Clara Red Sox -- a team that has won multiple World Series titles -- to be the favorite.

"Do I think we're on the same level as they are? No, but we're not too far away," Souza said. "It's baseball and if you play good defense and pitch good, anything can happen."

Souza feels great about his club. It won its first-ever Region tournament Tuesday, 8-1 over the San Jose Yankees, who are also in the West Zone tournament. Even better, the White Sox are expected to have Aaron Cutts back in uniform.

Cutts has been out virtually the entire summer season after suffering a broken collarbone. Whether he'll pitch or not remains to be seen, but Souza loves his clubhouse presence. And if he can pitch, it would be a boon.

"He could be the kryptonite to any good, fastball-hitting team," Souza said. "He can throw all that junk and off-speed stuff and it really throws off a team's rhythm."

Souza said the players are elated to still be playing, even though it's been a long, marathon of a season.

"We are not happy just to be here," he said. "The kids' expectations are to win it. We don't think that this is the last stop for us."

Emanuel Lee can be reached: emanuel@smdailyjournal.com and (650) 344 5200, ext. 109.