There was only one barrier at the time--the cyclone fence that separated the high school baseball diamond from the Los Gatos Lodge in deep right field. The rest of the outfield was open.

It was a big deal when a player cleared the fence and deposited a home run in the Lodge parking lot.

Kent Cooper did it four times.

Cooper played football, basketball and baseball for four years at Los Gatos High--two each on the Gatos varsity. He was such a leader that he was named team captain on seven of 12 squads he played for, and he was such a talent that he made five varsity all-league teams.

For his outstanding accomplishments as a Wildcat, Kent Cooper will be among the 11 members that make up the second class of inductees in the Athletic Hall of Fame at the high school during ceremonies to be held April 30 at Villa Ragusa in Campbell.

If the coaches of the era were paying attention, they had to know what a talent they were getting when Cooper enrolled at Los Gatos in the fall of 1976. He was the Athlete of the Year at Fisher Middle School in 1976 after playing five sports--football, wrestling, basketball, baseball and track and field--in each of his years there. He finished second in the county wrestling finals and second in the Northern California Wrestling Championships in Placerville.

But Cooper gave up wrestling for basketball in high school, playing two seasons on the frosh-soph and two more on the varsity, where he was all-league honorable mention and team Defensive Player of the Year in each of the two seasons.

Still, it was football and baseball where Cooper really made his mark. After two seasons as a frosh-soph quarterback and defensive back, he moved to tight end and played strong safety as a junior and senior.

Cooper won all-league first team honors both offensively and defensively and was picked to all-Central Coast Section second team as junior for a team that went undefeated before losing to Oak Grove in the CCS playoffs.

A year later, he returned to both all-league first teams and was the league's Defensive Player of the Year. He made the all-CCS first team and was selected the Defensive Back of the Year in the section. He also won a place in the defensive secondary on the all-Northern California team, and played strong safety that summer in the Santa Clara Valley All-Star Game.

But as good as he was on the football field, it was baseball that would be his future.

Cooper split time between third base and left field for the Wildcats in 1979 and blasted two homers over the right field fence. He came back as a senior to play third and left again, and he also saw time as a pitcher. He ripped two more homers over the fence, and won a place on the all-league second team.

Cooper, who won the Panighetti Cup as the Athlete of the Year in 1980 and also claimed the Lions Club Bruce Jenner Athletic Scholarship, went on to play baseball for a season at the University of the Pacific.

He returned to the area to play baseball at West Valley College in 1982, leading the state in runs-batted-in and ranking in the top 12 in batting average. He won a second team spot on the all-Golden Gate Conference team and was selected in the sixth round of the Major League free agent draft.

Cooper chose to go on to Santa Clara University on a full baseball scholarship and won all-Northern California Baseball Association honors.

He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants and played two seasons of Class A ball in the organization.

Though his professional baseball career ended in 1985, he didn't give up the game. In 1994, he played for a championship team in the Men's Senior League Baseball World Series for players over 30 years old.

And it all began when he was knockin' 'em out of the park over the right field fence at Los Gatos High.

Los Gatos High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held on April 30 at Villa Ragusa in Campbell. Tickets for the Hall of Fame dinner are priced at $90. For ticket information, call the Los Gatos Athletic Association at 408.395.2002.