Jerry Garcia and his Grateful Dead band mates probably described the Coronado High School Baseball Team’s 2005 post-season experience best in their 70’s anthem "Truckin’," when they sang "What a long, strange trip it’s been."

The Islanders finished the regular season with a solid 18-11 record, including a very respectable 6-6 mark in the Western League. Based on those results, Coronado was seeded 10^th of the 12 teams that made the CIF Division III Playoffs.

In the last week, the Coronado Nine has defeated the No. 6 seed San Marcos on the road, the No. 4 seed St. Augustine on the road and the No. 2 seed Mission Bay, you guessed it, on the road. The pesky bunch from Coronado is now in the Division III Final Four and has once again passed the 20-win mark for the season. They are now 21-11 and winners of nine of their last 11 games.

Their CIF crusade began with an 11-8 win over San Marcos, a contest termed a ‘slugfest’ by CHS Baseball Head Coach Sam Ceci. Islander mound ace Kevin Couture had an unusual outing, yielding eight runs on 15 hits to the Knights lineup, which featured four .400 hitters. "They just hit the ball," said Ceci of Coronado’s North County playoff opponent. "It was quite an effort on their part. We jumped out early, but they kept battling back. Statistically, Kevin wasn’t at his best and he was in trouble in every inning. But it was a great performance. There was no way he wanted to give the ball up or come out of the game."

Offensively the Islanders pounded out 11 hits of their own, drew four walks and stole eight bases. Individually, Mike Denson was 2-4 with three RBIs; Couture was 1-3 with two RBIs; Blake Spitzer was 3-5, with two runs scored, two stolen bases and one RBI; and Max Weinfurtner drove in two runs. Sophomore Ben Thorne, called up from the JV for the playoffs, added a pinch hit that drove in two runs.

The contest against San Marcos was a "play-in game," meaning the winner advanced to the double-elimination portion of the Division III playoffs. Ceci decided to send freshman Kyle O’Brien Pokorny to the mound to face the Saints at Hickman Field. The freshman right-hander proceeded to pitch a complete game, scattering 10 hits while yielding only three earned runs. The Islanders defeated St. Augustine 7-4.

"Pokorny was efficient as he always is," said Ceci. "He bends, but doesn’t break. He keeps his composure and he kept us close."

The Islanders typically are more of a ‘small ball’ club, putting the ball in play and manufacturing runs. But against St. Augustine, Coronado played long ball, as Couture and Denson both hit opposite field solo homers to tie the game 2-2 at the end of four innings.

In the fifth frame, it appeared that St. Augustine was going to knock Pokorny from the game, as the Saints had five hits and sent seven hitters to the plate. But they could only score twice and the Coronado defense stiffened just in time.

The Islanders countered in the sixth inning, sending 10 hitters of their own to the plate, and scoring five runs on just four hits. Sprinkle in two walks and a hit batter and you have a game-winning rally. The big blow was a bases-loaded, line drive double to left centerfield by Spitzer, which drove in three runs, including the game winner.

Pokorny faced only four hitters in the St. Augustine sixth. He struggled in the seventh, and allowed runners on first and second base with one out in the final inning. Pokorny found a little extra energy and induced a pop out to short and a fly to center field to close out the Saints and allow the Islanders to advance to face Mission Bay.

The Buccaneers are the 2005 Western League champs and are ranked No. 8 in Division III in the State by CalHiSports.com. They hosted Friday’s game on their home field, which is roughly the size of the old Fillmore West Ballroom in San Francisco, which is to say that it’s not very big. ‘Intimate’ might be a good adjective.

Ceci sent Mike ‘Sarge’ Hollinger to the mound and the senior responded to the challenge. Hollinger and his catcher Spitzer discovered early on that the home plate umpire was calling the outside strike and by and large, they danced around the outside corner the whole game. "He battled very well and got a lot of quality people out," said Ceci of his big right-hander. "He looked like he was more concerned about getting people out than with striking them out. That allowed him to throw strikes. He gave up only six hits to a significant team, which is huge. He walked five, but he didn’t walk them at the wrong time. He battled, he hung in there, and he got it done."

Coronado trialed Mission Bay 3-0 in the top of the sixth inning. Josh Okerman led off and singled; Spitzer reached first on an error by the Bucs third baseman; and then Jimmy Gersonde drew a walk to load the bases. That set the stage for Couture, who then hit a 330-foot grand slam homer over the left field wall, sending the Coronado fan contingent into a frenzy and the Islanders into a lead they would never relinquish.

But the Islanders weren’t done yet. Denson singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Brandon Wheeler trying to sacrifice Denson to third, reached base on an error by the pitcher. Thorne then drove in Denson with a sharp single to left and Okerman drove in Wheeler with a sacrifice fly to left field. Coronado scored all six of their runs in the sixth inning.

Mission Bay loaded the bases, but couldn’t score in the sixth. A nifty third to second to first double play turned in by the firm of Wheeler, Weinfurtner and Gersonde helped matters along considerably for Coronado.

In the Mission Bay seventh inning, the Bucs had a runner on first with one out, when Couture made a dazzling play at shortstop, which may have saved the game. Going deep into the hole, Couture gloved a hard grounder and gunned down the Mission Bay designated hitter on a bang-bang play at first for the second out of the inning. After Hollinger allowed a walk to put runners on first and second with two out, Sarge popped the final Buc hitter out to Weinfurtner at second base.

Like Couture and Pokorny in the first two games of the week, Hollinger grabbed the ball and threw it, establishing a rhythm with his catcher Spitzer. In many high school programs, one of the assistant coaches calls all of the pitches through signals to the catcher. Ceci and his staff allow Spitzer to call the game, which shows confidence in their junior receiver. "If Blake wasn’t back there, on certain counts we would call the pitches. Blake is doing a great job. He’s one of the keys to our success for the last half of the season."

Defeating Mission Bay sent the Bucs to the loser’s bracket, where the Bucs dismissed St. Augustine Saturday. The Islanders now have to again travel to higher seeded Mission Bay Tuesday at 4 pm, and they will have two chances to defeat the Bucs in the double elimination format. If Coronado loses Tuesday, they play at Mission Bay again Thursday at 4 pm for the right to advance to the Division III finals. That opponent is likely to be Valhalla, who is in the driver’s seat of the upper portion of the D III bracket.

"Friday doesn’t mean a thing if we can’t win Tuesday or Thursday," said Ceci. "We have to win one, but that’s a huge task. We’re breaking new ground for the Islanders. We’ve never gotten this deep into the tournament. Last year we made the Tuesday game and got eliminated. I’m real proud of these guys. They’re battling and they believe. The youngsters are contributing and it’s working out real well at the moment. This is ‘fun time.’ This is all a bonus now."

CHS Head Track and Field Coach George Green brings us up to date on the CIF Finals over the weekend. "Five Islanders made it to the CIF Track and Field finals at Mt. Carmel last Saturday, each with a goal, each with a hope.

Jamie Klages’ quest to make it to the state met for the third time in a row and to win the section high jump championship was successful, despite sore hip flexors sustained during a tough week at the Women’s Under 20 U.S. National Soccer Team training camp held in Carson.

Only the Top 3 San Diego Section athletes in each event or an athlete hitting the state standard in this competition advance. Jamie advanced on both criteria by winning with a jump of 5-feet, 6-inches, two inches over the state qualifying standard. Her best jump this year of 5-feet, 10.25 inches leads the section and ties her for the all-time San Diego Section best.

Adam Munns went to the state meet as a sophomore, but not as a junior. He wanted back in the big event and he was successful with a 6-foot, 5-inch effort, good for second place in the section and a trip to state. Adam and Jamie are the only two Islanders who will move on to the state meet. Adam plans to jump next year at UCSD, but Jamie will retire her track shoes after the state meet and concentrate on soccer at Nebraska.

Jake Ruzevick had an outside shot in the 1,600-meter run, but this is a very strong and very deep year for milers. Jake’s time of 4:21.9 placed him sixth in the section. Jake had a great 4-year career at Coronado, winning the Harbor League cross country championship four times and the Division cross country championship twice. In track he was the MVP Runner in the Harbor League for the past 2 years and he holds the 1,500-meter school record. Next year he will run for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.).

Reid McLean, last year’s section 300-meter hurdles champion, had a tough year with injuries and didn’t repeat his title. He came into the season with a sprained ankle and then aggravated an old hamstring injury that prevented him from reaching his potential. His time of 40.29 in the CIF finals, well off his personal best time of 38.94, placed him sixth in the section. He also placed sixth in the Division II high jump with an effort of 6 feet even. Reid just needs a break to get healthy. Next year he will attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he’ll run the hurdles and perhaps compete in the multi-events (heptathlon and decathlon).

Sarah Player was in position to advance and perhaps even win her event with less than 100 meters to go in the 300-meter hurdles race, but she clipped a hurdle with her trail leg and went down. Sarah is only 15, a sophomore, and has a great future in this event. Her Harbor League winning time of 45.96 this year, broke a 21-year old school record set by Gigi English in 1984, which was 47.2 seconds. We’re looking at Junior Olympic possibilities for Sarah this summer.

Danielle Eckert’s goal was to get over 10 feet in the pole vault, and she did just that placing third in the Division II pole vault. She added 6 inches to the old CHS record of 9-feet, 6-inches set by Lisa Robbins in 2002. Danielle had previously tied the school record at the Frosh/Soph Championships, and broke it with a 9-8 vault in the CIF Prelims. After receiving her medal and stepping down from the podium voices from the crowd (mainly Jamie Klages) encouraged her to execute a standing back handspring. She earned a ‘10’ for that as well."

Saturday, June 18^th, the CHS Islanders Baseball Team in conjunction with Coronado Little League, will host a Home Run Derby event at Islander Field behind Strand Elementary School. The contest will run from 10 am to 5 pm, with the proceeds benefiting the Coronado High School Baseball program.

If you are between the ages of 9 and 18, you need a sponsor. In the adult division, an entry fee is required. There will be fun for the whole family, and food, prizes and raffles will all be available. This would also be a good opportunity to see the new clubhouse constructed at Islander Field.

For more information, please contact Bruce Johnson at 619-851-1600 or pre-register via E-mail at CoronadoIslanders@gmail.com.

At the Girls Lacrosse Banquet held last week, the CHS Varsity Awards announced by Head Coach Jessica Battle included: Co-MVP Defense – Angela Naple and Liz Thaete; MVP Offense – Marissa Nagler; Unsung Hero Award – Lindsey Negrete; Islander Sports Foundation Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship – Christine Siefert; Coaches’ Award – Julia Schelkun.

The Boys Varsity Lacrosse Awards, presented by Head Coach Alex Cade were: Islander Sports Foundation Award – Casey Brown; Most Improved Player – Corbett Vita; Defensive Player of the Year – Chris Arthur; Coaches’ Choice Award – Alex Woolf; Middie of the Year – Kelcey Fisher; Attack Man of the Year – Geoff Worley; Team MVP – Kevin Chenoweth.