In a nutshell you should have Gold status and thus priority boarding if you fly as much as you stated- 12 RT to the west coast each year should net you over the 25K elite qualifying miles needed for Gold.

If you don't have status, you can purchase Group 1 boarding for a fee. Other groups are then assigned to my understanding based on how far back your seat is, i.e. in the back = group 2, to facilitate quick boarding. So for examplie if you're in row 5 on on ERJ-135 with no status you'll probably be in the last group.

Unfortunately AA is not going to give you special treatment over the "PJ wearing" once-a-year fliers if you don't at least hit Gold, or buy Group 1.