TEMECULA —— Anthony Renteria remembers the exact moment he knew he wanted to be a major-league baseball player. He was 10 years old, and spent the summer tagging along with his dad, Rick Renteria, in Maine, where Rick was a minor-league manager with the Portland Sea Dogs of the Double-A Eastern League.

The younger Renteria spent his days shagging fly balls with future Florida Marlins players, occasionally taking batting practice, and staying up past his bedtime to watch games from the dugout bench every night.

"I had gone from playing Little League and practicing a couple times a week to being there and seeing them play every day," Anthony said. "It was like, 'Man, this is the greatest thing ever. Every day, this is what they get paid to do —— have fun and play baseball.' Right then, that's what made me want to play."

It was an opportunity very few aspiring ballplayers ever get, and his father's connection to baseball has continued to help him develop his game. Now a sophomore at Great Oak High School, Anthony makes his summer ballpark visits just up the road in Lake Elsinore, as Rick now manages the Single-A Storm.

He's in his second season managing the Padres affiliate, following one season during which he was the team's hitting coach.

Anthony, the Wolfpack's center fielder and leadoff man —— who is third on the team with a .309 batting average and leads the club in home runs (three), RBIs (17) and slugging percentage (.636) —— said growing up around the game has given him a significant advantage.

"I try to get advice from everybody I can, and I try to work out with (the minor-league players) whenever I can," Anthony said, adding that California League All-Star Paul McAnulty became one of his mentors last summer. "They show me a lot. I'll get a lot of advice from them, and my dad."

What he also gets from his dad is the genes of a former major-league player. Rick was a first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1980 and played parts of five major-league seasons as a middle infielder with the Pirates, Mariners and Marlins.

Because of his upbringing, Anthony is different than his peers, though most of the pressure he feels to perform is self imposed.

"I think people think he's supposed to be this 'thing' that functions without a glitch," Rick said. "I think it's natural for coaches to have expectations like that.

"Sometimes he puts pressure on himself to live up to certain things. He has a strong desire to succeed."

Great Oak coach Eric Morton said he didn't know Anthony's background before the team started practice this spring, but quickly saw the outfielder would be something special.

"As soon as we had a couple workouts, you could tell he was a player," Morton said. "The good thing about Tony is that he knows baseball. Having been around it with his dad and with the Storm, he knows some of the things most kids his age don't realize —— like how to read a pitcher's move to the plate and the importance of hitting to all fields."

Morton said he doesn't treat Anthony different than any other player. Morton has been impressed with the sophomore's maturity and work ethic, which he said is something that sets Anthony apart from his high school teammates.

The younger Renteria knows that his name alone won't get him drafted or earn him a college scholarship. Instead, it has made him determined to become a better, more complete player. And he isn't shy about making public where he wants that extra effort to take him —— it all goes back to his summers on the rocky Maine coast.

"My goal is to play in the big leagues," Anthony said. "Ever since I can remember, that's all I've wanted to do."

Greg Ball can be reached at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2629 or gball@californian.com.