Landmark victories seem to be the natural order of things for Islander sports teams of late. Last month, the CHS Girls Soccer Team defeated USDHS for the first time ever and in the process won the CIF Division III title.

Saturday, the Boys Baseball Team defeated St. Augustine by the score of 2-1, which according to Head Coach Sam Ceci, "was the first time anybody around the program thinks we beat them. We play them again in a week and a half and they will be loaded for bear at that point. It was a San Diego High School-type game, but we won. They put the ball in play and we made the plays. We’ve been savoring this win for a couple of days."

Islander staff ace Kevin Couture pitched a complete game, striking out five Saints hitters in the process. Coronado took an early 1-0 lead, but St. Augustine came back to tie the game in the fourth inning. The Islanders took the lead with a single run in the sixth and were able to hold on for the victory.

"Blake Spitzer played a real solid game at short," Ceci said. "And we stole four bases, which was nice. We only had four hits and Jacques Spitzer (Blake’s older brother) got two of them. Ryan Nunn and Max Weinfurtner contributed the other two hits."

Earlier in the week Coronado defeated Hoover 13-2, which like the game against St,. Augustine, was part of the City Conference Tournament. "It was a very good game for us, because we started a lot of seniors," recounted Ceci. "Will Nygard went 2-3 and Drew Chance was 1-4 and swung the bat well. We played hard from the first pitch to the last and had the game under control from start to finish. The kids were pulling for each other and the kids were into the game."

Both J.T. Rogan and Geoff Thorne were 3-3 against Hoover, helping lead a 15-hit Islander attack against the Cardinals. Included in Thorne’s offensive production were a double, a triple, and four RBIs. Rogan scored three times, while Couture, Weinfurtner, and Mike Denson scored two runs each. Mike Hollinger pitched five innings to earn the victory. Blake Spitzer pitched two hitless innings in relief and struck out three of the six Cardinal hitters he faced.

The two wins last week improved the Islanders record to 6-3. This week Coronado continues play in the City Conference Tourney, with an early-week game at Western League rival Point Loma on Tuesday and a home contest Thursday against Serra High School at 3 pm.

The Girls Soccer Team held their annual awards banquet Sunday. Islander Sports Foundation Vice President Susan Schelkun was on hand to present the ISF award to Ashley Copp. The awards, as announced by Head Coach Miles Ramirez, included: Dayna Queisser Team MVP and Best Offensive Player; Maureen Mulvey Best Defensive Player; Most Inspirational was Skippy Alley; and Anni Korhonen was named Most Improved Player. Rhett Chase won the Coach’s Award; Un-Sung Hero Awards were presented to Teal Jensen and Jade Hughes, while the Rookie of the Year was Kelly Walsh.

Congratulations to Dayna Queisser, who will be attending Cal Berkeley in the fall. She was recently named by the San Diego Union-Tribune as the captain of the Girls Soccer All-Academic Team, as well as a First Team selection to the All-County CIF Team.

Coronado Lacrosse aficionado Emory Chenoweth sends in this report of the Islanders 10-2 victory over the Poway Titans. "Led by the strong defensive efforts of Jeremy Redding, Ryan Cummins, and Kyle McArthur, Coronado stifled the Poway Titan attack in front of a 20-save performance by goalie Kevin Chenoweth.  Coronado's team defense throttled the Poway offense, which was vitally important as Poway dominated second half ground ball play and the Islanders committed more than their usual number of turnovers.  In addition to the defense's dominant performance, the Islander midfielders carried the day against their Titan rivals. 

Coronado dominated the face-off battle with Kelcey Fisher and Trevor Serfass leading the Islanders at midfield.  Fisher and Serfass both added key goals to the offensive output.  Seniors Zack Todaro and Chris Leary along with freshman Geoff Worley contributed to the Islanders aggressive offense.  Islander midfielders showed their superior speed and were able to move effectively against Poway defenders in the offensive end. 

Alex Woolf and Cody Morris, who both played fine games at midfield, helped generate important fast break opportunities that were finished by the goal scoring of Steve Torkington and at a critical juncture of the fourth period by Rob Kelly. 

Glen Goebels and Cote Perkins played gritty, tough ball games against what is arguably the most physical defense in the CIF.  Together the senior attack duo contributed important ball control and offense against the extremely aggressive and talented Poway defenders. The second half of the game was a penalty-filled affair for the Islanders and the outcome could have been markedly different if not for the very strong play of Chris Arthur and Corbett Vita on the ‘man down’ defense unit.  All in all, it was a solid victory against a good Poway team.

Last Friday's La Jolla High School fell to the Islanders by the score of 13-2. The victory raises the Islanders' season mark to 2-1.  The Islanders return to action at home Wednesday against City Conference foe, Scripps Ranch at 7 pm.  The delayed telecast of Friday's La Jolla game can be seen Wednesday, March 31st at 6:00 P.M. on Time-Warner Channel 19."

CHS Head Track Coach George Green reports on his team’s efforts from last week. "With the exception of Jamie Klages who had a soccer commitment, the "A" team
was at the Mt. Carmel Invite last Saturday. Jake Ruzevick and Reid McLean
had to take SAT's in the morning so their schedule was a little hectic.
Ruzevick had to skip the 1600 but the meet director agreed to put him in the
seeded 800 meter heat based on a projected qualifying time. He placed fifth in
1:59.7 putting him among San Diego's select "sub-2 minute half" group.
McLean had to miss his best event, the long jump and all of the lane races
were filled up. In the seeded high jump, Adam Munns again flirted with 6' 6". However his 6-4 jump was good enough for second place.
The girls 4x100 relay team consisting of Ashley Houston, Megan Mushovic, Nila Herutelou and Beth Wittry were placed in the second of three heats graded by time where they placed 4th in 52.40. Wittry and Herutelou later teamed up with freshman Sara Player and senior Katherine Wingert in the seeded 4x400 for a fifth place finish in 4:13.12, a good early season time. Earlier in the day Wingert placed seventh in the seeded 800 with 2:23.5 and Wittry second in Heat 2 of the 400 in 60.37 and seventh in Flight 2 of the triple jump with 32 feet 5.5 inches. Heurtelou placed second in Heat 2 of the 200 in 26.82 and placed sixth in the seeded high jump with 5 feet.

In middle school action, Sallie Privett placed 3rd at the Carlsbad Junior 11-12 year old mile out of 300 boys and girls with a time of 5:24. She was the second girl to
finish behind National Cross Country runner-up Erin Gillingham from Solana
Beach who set a new girls record for the course in 5:18. Privett's time was
also under the old record of 5:29.  Both Privett and Gillingham run for the
Southern California Roadrunners who were the midget girls USATF 11-12
national cross country champions last year.

The entire championship team was at the race and they were the Top 7 girl finishers, all under 6 minutes. In the Carlsbad 5k the next day, CMS 8th grader Ben Enowitz placed 77th overall in the tough 29 and under age category and 14th in the 13-17 category, with
a time of 17:46. You can follow the CHS track team as well as the Southern
California Roadrunners at our web site IslanderTrack.com."

Your Natterer spent parts of four days in Arizona over the weekend taking in three Cactus League games involving the Chicago Cubs. Yes, we (dad Joe and so Michael rounded out the contingent) were there when Sammy Sosa took a Brian Giles line drive off his head.

Several thoughts come to mind after the trip. First, if you are a true baseball fan and have never been to Spring Training, you should go. The pace of the games is slower than slow, but it’s also a lot of fun. This is the fifth trip I’ve made and my best guess is that exposure to Spring Training lowers your blood pressure by at least five points per game. We also enjoyed perfect weather conditions, with each day sunny and temperatures in the mid 80’s.

You should realize before you go that the final score in a Spring Training game is meaningless. Teams are only required to play with four players who figure to be starters during the regular season. In the final game we saw, the Oakland A’s starting infield all had uniform numbers in the 60’s or higher, meaning they aren’t likely to make the Major League club. The exception that proves that rule is A’s starter and Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito, who pitched for Oakland. His normal number is 75, but he is left-handed and therefore a little off kilter.

An example of the "wins don’t matter" concept is the Cub game against the Texas Rangers. The Cubs started a non-roster pitcher, who promptly gave up five runs in the first inning. The Rangers countered with a pair of non-roster pitchers who yielded seven runs. The Texas back-ups defeated the Chicago irregulars 10-7.

Ticket prices are no laughing matter in Spring Training as our seats were in the $14 to $17 range. I learned to nurse a large bottle of water ($5) and a large bag of peanuts (also $5) through a 9-inning game. Comparatively speaking, the Chicago Red Hot Dog is a bargain, also at $5.

The important thing regarding Spring Training is to plan ahead, way ahead. Several venues sell out and hotel rooms, especially with the NCAA Mens Basketball Regional being played in Phoenix over the weekend, are scarce commodities. It’s an easy seven-hour drive, which includes a couple of stops. The gas in the Phoenix area, at least temporarily, is under $2 per gallon.

Regarding the Padres, Brian Giles is a fine player in right field and figures to be a fan favorite in San Diego. Sean Burroughs has slimmed down and is playing a good defensive third base for the Padres and spraying hits from the leadoff position. Pitcher Jake Peavy had a fine outing against the Cubs and looks to be a contributor. Trevor Hoffman is still effective, but is retiring hitters on guile and a great change-up, rather than the fastball that highlighted the early part of his career.

The game we saw, neither Ryan Klesko nor Phil Nevin played for San Diego. The Padres will score runs and should be much improved. As for the Cubs, the law of averages should come into play one of these years. The Cubs haven’t played in the World Series since 1945. Why not now?