DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

On picture day at Corona del Mar High, Chris Rosen was all smiles.

Even after the flash of the camera.

After team pictures, Rosen and his teammates hit the baseball field, toward the left-field line, where they warmed up and played catch.

Everyone beside Rosen sported a game face, the one that resembles your typical brash ballplayer. Anything he feels will intimidate others, from a brassy strut to a bitter scowl.

But Rosen’s game face is always a beaming smile. And no one can possibly make it disappear. It just enlarges when you try.

Assistant coach Steve Foreman showed how much when he called Rosen over.

“Smiley!” yelled Foreman, of course making Rosen’s smile grow.

Rosen has good reasons to be smiling big in his senior year.

The left-hander hit a walk-off RBI single to beat rival Newport Harbor, 2-1, in the Battle of the Bay game last week, and the Sea Kings (6-2) have won their last six games.

Winning would put any player in a jovial mood. But Rosen, a first baseman, is upbeat no matter the outcome.

“Nothing to be upset about,” Rosen said. “It’s tough to find me not smiling.”

It’s smile now, smile later for Rosen.

At first the frequent smiling puzzled teammates and coaches. In a sport where practically everything is taken serious on the field, watching Rosen cheery 24-7 led some to question his dedication.

“That took some getting used to at first,” said Corona del Mar Coach John Emme, shaking his head. “That’s just Chris. He is a competitor.”

Rosen definitely obsesses about competition.

When Emme told the team that the coaches in the Pacific Coast League picked Laguna Hills and not the defending champion Sea Kings to claim the league title this year, it riled Rosen up.

“We were kind of offended,” Rosen said, “because we thought we were the best.”

Rosen only uses the word “best” when describing CdM. Not himself. When mentioning the team’s top players, he’ll go through the entire lineup before saying his own name.

The three-year varsity player is modest. But Rosen, through seven games, ranks third in batting average (.391) and RBIs (six) on a team with a legit shot to make a run at Corona del Mar’s fourth CIF Southern Section Division championship.

If it weren’t for Austin Elliott raking in a team-best 15 RBIs ahead of him in the cleanup spot, Emme said Rosen’s numbers would be more impressive.

“He’s been a huge difference for us. He’s hitting better than he has in his whole career,” said Emme of Rosen, who last year only drove in 10 runs, but hit .418. “He was a little hit and miss last year, and this year he’s very consistent [in] that he’s going to get good bat on the ball on every at-bat.”

Making every plate appearance count for Rosen has been his ability to avoid pulling every pitch to right field.

Rosen is taking pitches the other way more often. But shaking a bad habit is no easy task.

“It’s tough to change,” Rosen said. “It’s what I’ve been doing all my life.”

Just like smiling and nothing is going wipe that off his face.

CHRIS ROSEN

Hometown: Mission Viejo

Born: Aug. 25, 1989

Height: 5-foot-10

Weight: 160 lbs.

Sport: Baseball

Position: First baseman

Coach: John Emme

Favorite food: Steak

Favorite movie: “Dumb and Dumber”

Favorite athletic moment: Hitting a walk-off RBI single to lead the Sea Kings to a 2-1 victory over rival Newport Harbor in the Battle of the Bay game this year.

Week in review: Drove in the game-winning run for CdM in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Newport Harbor, 2-1, in the Battle of the Bay game. He went three for seven with an RBI and double in CdM’s wins over Newport Harbor and Costa Mesa.