SAN MARCOS -- He had ridden off into the sunset. The happy ending had been scripted.

After almost three decades as the leader of perhaps the most successful junior college softball program in California history, Mark Eldridge had hung up his spikes and fungo bat, and retired to a laid-back life of leisure. Well, not exactly -- he was still a full-time professor at Palomar College and the school's women's golf coach and an instructional aide for his son's youth baseball team.

But when Eldridge left Comets' softball, a program that he had founded in 1978, in the hands of an assistant whom he had groomed for the job, he thought he was done for good. He thought his remarkable record of achievement was frozen in time, the artifact of a distinguished career on the diamond.

Eldridge, 59, hasn't been wrong about much as a softball coach, but he was wrong about that. So following a two-year hiatus, he has taken back custody of his baby. He will embark on his 30th season -- and try to build on his 1,040 victories, 25 conference championships and three state titles -- when Palomar travels to a tournament in Henderson, Nev., on Friday.

"It's like I never left," Eldridge said last week after practice. "It's great."

The Eldridge who returned as the Comets' coach is rejuvenated, full of energy and fresh ideas for how to dominate softball in Southern California anew. The Eldridge who left the program at the end of the 2006 season -- a 35-13 campaign that was pedestrian by his lofty standards -- was burned out, tired of the daily grind, ready for a change.

Specifically, he was sick of not being there to foster the burgeoning baseball affinity shown by his son, Ricky, then 12 years old and in Little League. During his "retirement," Eldridge finally was able to devote the same amount of time to Ricky as he had to hundreds of teenage girls over the years.

Of course, he also found time to start up a women's golf team at Palomar, and under the direction of this coach for all seasons -- Eldridge also was a track and field throws coach in the 1970s and a longtime football defensive coordinator for Tom Craft -- the Comets finished third in the state in only their second year.

Eldridge never targeted a certain date for his departure, but he did establish a succession plan. For two years he taught the ins and outs of the program to his top assistant, Scia Maumausolo, a former Mt. Carmel High standout who went on to star at Cal State Northridge and even played in a pro softball league. Maumausolo assumed the reins for the 2007 season, inheriting a rich tradition but also the burden of 21 consecutive Pacific Coast Conference championships.

"I knew it was going to be a tough transition because we had been so successful," Eldridge said. "But I thought we had a real good situation in place. I felt real comfortable about it."

Maumausolo's first season was indeed rocky, as a lack of players (only 12 were on the roster) contributed to a 26-25 record that was the worst in program history. Yet Palomar finished in a three-way tie for first place, extending the string of PCC titles either won or shared to 22.

Year two was trying in a different way. Maumausolo left the team in late February, before the start of conference play, to give birth to her first child, a daughter named Scia delivered by Caesarean section on March 8. She didn't return until the final week of the season, and in her absence the Comets were coached by assistant Lacey Craft, Tom's daughter and a former Palomar and San Diego State softball star.

The team posted a better overall mark (28-16) but tied for second behind Grossmont in the PCC. Not since 1985 had Palomar been left looking up at a rival in the conference.

Last May 30, Palomar athletic director Scott Cathcart called Maumausolo into his office and, according to the coach, told her, "We would like this program to go in another direction." Maumausolo said Cathcart didn't elaborate on the reasoning for his decision to fire her.

"It was a mystery, and it's still a mystery," said Maumausolo, now an assistant softball coach at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. "I worked extremely hard under Mark to learn his methods and I wanted to mirror his accomplishments. I believe that I did my job.

"I really wanted some answers so I could take them on to my next job, but (Cathcart) couldn't tell me a thing. Was it my pregnancy? What are you left to believe when the only thing that changed is my pregnancy?"

Asked about the firing, Cathcart said: "I thought she had done a pretty good job. I don't want to get into specifics. With Mark willing to come back, we felt that would be in the best interests of the program."

For his part, Eldridge said he supported Maumausolo's retention. But once the decision had been made, he agreed to come back, unwilling to allow the program he created to be taken over by an outsider who might be unable to stem the slide.

"She busted her butt, did a good job, but they decided to go in a different direction," Eldridge said. "Since I was still here working, they brought me back. It takes a lot of energy. We have high standards. We've been a successful program for a long, long time, so we're trying to do it again."

Palomar's players were initially torn over the coaching change -- sad to see Maumausolo forced out but excited by the return of Eldridge, who had helped Craft run practices while Maumausolo was on maternity leave. Eight months later, excitement has won out.

Consider Andi Anti. The sophomore from Holtville originally committed to Eldridge in the spring of 2006, only to be blindsided by his retirement. She instead went to San Diego City College, where she redshirted as a freshman before choosing to follow her best friend to Palomar out of frustration with the operation of City's program.

Last season she played third base for Maumausolo and led the Comets in several offensive categories, including batting average (.466). Now, as a sophomore, she'll shift to shortstop for none other than Eldridge, the coach who attracted her to Palomar in the first place.

"When Scia was here, she was a great coach. She helped me a lot," Anti said. "But she was gone for the spring, and that was really tough for us not to have a head coach.

"With the coaching change, I was shocked. I didn't know what to think. We didn't know if Mark was coming back. We didn't know if he was fully going to commit to us because of golf. But I decided to stay here, and I'm glad I did."

Eldridge will remain the golf coach (in addition to teaching health and physical education classes), but he assured Cathcart that neither job will detract from the other. As for his son, Ricky is now a freshman at Escondido High, and Eldridge said a prep baseball schedule fits more snugly around his softball duties.

Eldridge is fierce competitor -- he played football, baseball and threw the javelin at Palomar, and later played safety for Washington State -- who bemoans his 272 losses and six ties more than he admires his gaudy victory total. In his ceaseless quest for perfection, he has begun his second stint by enlisting the help of Rudy Rodriguez, Ricky's travel ball coach and the hitting coach for the Cal State San Marcos baseball team. Rodriguez, formerly of La Costa Canyon, teaches a five-step hitting system -- rhythm, balance, separation, squaring and weight transfer -- that he learned from the Texas Rangers' Rudy Jaramillo, one of the major leagues' most respected hitting instructors.

Rodriguez drilled Palomar's players on the basic during the offseason, and Eldridge expects major dividends at the plate.

"It's been very beneficial," he said.

With more than 20 players on the roster, including a talented crop of freshmen, Eldridge sees no reason why the Comets can't regain conference supremacy and make noise at the state level this spring. Initially, he planned to return for only one season to stabilize the program until another replacement could be found. Because of the state budget crisis, however, the full-time softball position has been frozen (Eldridge is technically on the books as a golf coach), so he'll stay as long as necessary.

Eldridge has encouraged Craft to pursue the job when it comes open again. In her fourth season as an assistant, Craft recently completed work toward a master's degree, a required step to becoming a professor and head softball coach.

"I grew up around the school, and Mark is a family friend and mentor," Craft said. "To take over the program someday would be awesome."

For now, though, the program is back in the capable hands of the man who knows it best -- the man who has Palomar red coursing through his veins.

For Mark Eldridge, retirement didn't stick. It's time to write a new happy ending.

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.