25 Sept 2006 Issue #39

"Defense wins championships" is the oft-repeated mantra of coaches everywhere and that concept certainly applies to water polo. Over the weekend, the Coronado High School Boys Water Polo Team hosted the America’s Finest City Tournament, where a stingy Islander team defense helped propel them to a third place finish in a very tough 32-team field.

Friday’s pool-round play saw the Islanders dominate Western High School 18-5 and Chaparral 14-4. Saturday’s first game was against a Davis High squad that was better than the 15-7 final score would indicate.

Lighting up the Islander side of the scoreboard was Jacob Smith with seven goals and two steals. On one play in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, he combined both stats in one superbly athletic play. Starting with a steal in the Islander defensive end of the pool, Smith sprinted with the ball to the opposite end of the pool and buried a shot in the back of the goal.

Two goals each were scored by Sean Cook and Sam Working, with single tallies supplied by Eric Clapper, Adam Ratcliffe, Alex Johnson and Jackson Crow-Mickle. Islander goalie Kyle Pokorny contributed his part to the strong defensive effort with nine saves and two steals.

A closer look at Clapper’s game statistics indicates why he is so valuable to his team. Clapper committed five steals in the contest, four of which came while the game was still very much in doubt. Mix in an assist (a pass leading directly to a goal), a goal and some strong defensive work and you have another good outing.

America’s Finest City Tournament was seeded so that if form held, No. 1 seed Harvard Westlake, No. 2 seed Mira Costa and No. 3 or 4 Coronado (a pick ‘em seed with La Jolla in the other slot) wouldn’t meet until the final day of play. After the Davis victory, Coronado was now on a collision course with Mira Costa, with Coronado Alumnus Jon Reichardt at the helm of their program. In this contest, Coronado came out on the short end of the 6-3 score.

"At the conclusion of the Mira Costa game, they (the Islander players) thought they could have played a lot better," said Head Coach Randy Burgess. "In the Mira Costa game we were 3-23 shooting. We were taking bad shots and ill-timed shots. We played very well defensively and Pokorny had nine more saves." Crow-Mickle scored once and Clapper scored two goals to account for Coronado’s offensive production.

The opposition didn’t get any easier in the third place game, as Coronado was now faced with No. 1 seed Harvard Westlake. "We were a lot more patient and we were looking for better shots in the final game," said Burgess of his team. "We’re doing some very good things defensively and we were making some good adjustments. The team is counting on Kyle in goal to control the ball off the shots and to keep the opposing teams off balance. We had four players with multiple goal games. Harvard Westlake has two very outstanding field players and their goalie was the goalie of the tournament."

Coronado’s scoring in the 9-7 victory to capture third place, was led by Clapper with three goals, followed by Cook, Smith and Johnson with two scores each.

Burgess assessed the play of several members of the Islander squad. "Sean Cook stepped up and Jackson Crow-Mickle did a real nice job in the tournament, especially in the last game. Alex Johnson is playing above his freshman status and C.J. Kerr is coming in off the bench and really helping us. They are added bonuses we didn’t have a week ago. It’s all part of the learning curve. There’s not a lot of experience out there. Everyone is getting better."

The AFC Tournament, which was sponsored by the United States Navy Seals, was won by Agoura High School, from the Thousand Oaks area, by virtue of an 11-7 victory over Mira Costa. Representing Coronado, Clapper and Smith were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Burgess, who also serves as the AFC tournament director was pleased with the level of the competition. "The quality of play was very strong this year, the strongest in the history of the tournament. The powerhouses weren’t the San Diego teams, but the teams that came down (from other parts of the state) were very strong teams."

This week Coronado begins Western League play with two league matches. The first is against Scripps Ranch at Miramar College Friday at 3 pm. The Islanders play at La Jolla High School at 5 pm Saturday.

Rarely, perhaps only in the case of "The Godfather, Part II," does the sequel outshine the original. Now add "Ricardo Oberwager Runs to Daylight, Part II" to the extremely short list of successful sequels.

To re-cap, two weeks ago at Serra, the junior tailback rushed for 90 yards from scrimmage, ran back an 85-yard punt and an 85-yard kickoff, scoring a total of four touchdowns in the process.

Well move over Marlon and step aside Pacino, Oberwager surpassed most of those numbers in the first half of play in Coronado’s 34-7 victory over Medicine Hat High School, of Calgary, Alberta Friday night. In a mere 16 carries from the line of scrimmage, Oberwager ran for 264 yards and four more touchdowns. The scoring scampers came on runs of 37 yards, 51 yards and 54 yards. Showing his versatility, Oberwager was also on the receiving end of a 25-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Stephen Conrad.

Oberwager had another 16 yards in punt returns and also played his customary defensive back position when the Islanders don’t have the ball. All-in-all, a pretty fair effort.

"He’s only the third fastest kid on the team," said Head Coach Bud Mayfield of the now two-time KUSI Channel 9 Prep Pigskin Report Player of the Week award winner Oberwager. "Ricky is very quick and he is so quick that he appears faster than he is. Plus, like a lot of kids he has game speed. In a game he finds extra speed, because he is a competitor. He is our Black Shirt winner (Islander Game MVP) again this week."

Mayfield noted the contributions of some additional Islander players. "Mitch Moran stepped up and had his best game at linebacker. Kyle Brown had a nice touchdown reception (a 43-yard effort from Conrad) and had a touchdown run called back due to a penalty."

A total of seven Coronado players toted the ball on offense, amassing 405 yards on the ground among them. The list included Oberwager, Ray San Giovanni (55 yards), Conrad, Eddie Gomez, Brown, Cameron Feallock and Mason Mills.

Some of the games against Canadian opponents have been walkovers, but Medicine Hat came ready to play, according to Mayfield. "They were a challenge. They were very fundamentally sound and physical. They showed tremendous grit. At the end of the game they drove the ball all the way down the field to avoid the shutout. They have great kids and they were very complimentary about us and our conduct on the field. Our kids don’t talk smack and they were impressed."

The game was the first to be played on the new state-of-the-art artificial turf playing surface installed over the summer at Niedermeyer Field. "Our kids were inspired by our first home game on the new field," Mayfield said.

This Friday night, the long-standing rivalry between Coronado and Mar Vista High School will be renewed. Coronado enters the game with a 2-1 record this season and Mar Vista is 0-3, but you can throw the records out when analyzing this contest. The winner of the contest receives the Adrian Taufaasau Trophy, which honors the former Islander quarterback. Coronado has won the last three Mariner vs. Islander tilts.

"Their starting quarterback got hurt early in the season," said Mayfield of Mar Vista’s squad. "They are a different team with him in there. They run the spread offense and throw a lot. We haven’t played anybody lately that has run the spread on us and that will be good. It will give us another opportunity for growth." Kick-off of the South Bay rivalry game is slated for 7:30 pm.

Head Coach Hanna Cohan and the CHS Lady Linksters are having more trouble finding City Conference opponents who can field a full team, than they are defeating them. Last week Giovanna Ascolani, Chelsea Newson, Jackie Davis, Lauren Cropper, and Maggie Strabala defeated San Diego High School 314-396. Ascolani earned medalist honors by firing a 43 at Coronado Muni.

Thursday Christian supplied the worthy opposition, however they could only muster four players, so the required fifth score was counted at double par. Coronado won by the score of 237-343. Islander Alexcie Sanchez was the medalist for the match, shooting a 41, followed by Mackenzie Coutts with a 42 and Ascolani with a 46. Rounding out the Islander squad were Brooke Bower, Lexi Donovan and Davis.

Monday, however, finding Cathedral Catholic on the Coronado Muni course won’t be difficult, as the Dons are among the best golf squads in San Diego County. Tuesday Coronado hosts West Hills High School for the second of the two matches to be played by the Islanders this week.

"My goal for any match we play is for the girls to play hard and to be sweet, no matter the caliber of the competition," said Cohan. "We’ve had some very nice remarks from other coaches regarding the girls."

Cohan also wanted to note the contribution of Coronado Municipal Head Pro Ron Yarborough to the Girls Golf program. "Ron is more generous with the golf course than any other course I’ve bumped into," said Cohan. "They are very welcoming and super generous. That applies to Ron and the rest of the staff as well."

Tuesday the CHS Girls Volleyball Team marched over to Serra High School and played a tough five-set match, coming out on the short end of a 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 29-27, 11-15 loss to the Conquistadors.

Undeterred by the close loss, Head Coach Christina Lahr said, "Overall it was a really good match. They (Coronado) showed some heart and fortitude to push through all five games. There were times during the matches when Serra had a couple of runs with their serve, where they were able to score four or five straight points and that tended to tilt the match in their favor."

Thursday Coronado hosted the Cavers of San Diego High and the scores, which were 25-14, 19-25, 25-12, 23-25 and 11-15; were eerily reminiscent of the week’s first match. Taking the total points scored in both matches, Coronado actually outscored the opposition 212-205, but couldn’t emerge with a win to show for their efforts.

"We had a solid serving match against San Diego," Lahr said. "But we weren’t able to go on multiple-point runs. We had a lack of aggressive serves and they (the Cavers) were good passers. We’ll see that a lot in the Eastern League, scrappy and good passing teams. On our side, we need to push through every point and win every rally. We need to put the ball on their side and have them make mistakes."

Volleyball is often a game of establishing and sustaining momentum, a point Lahr made to her team last Friday in practice. "We need to push and play hard on every point of every match, as though it were game point. We have to play as a team and play with our hearts, regardless of the score. This week our goal is to set the tone for each game we’re playing and taking the other team out of their rhythm, as opposed to the other way around. We’re a young team and we need the court experience. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and they will have to rely on themselves."

Individually, the Islanders had some solid contributors according to Coach Lahr. "Christy Mebust had a very good game versus Serra, both offensively and defensively. Lisa Bernardy was pushing the team to stay focused during the match. Against San Diego, Katie Legidakes was a great asset, not only defensively, but she filled Lisa’s shoes from the game before. She worked hard to keep the team motivated, upbeat and focused. Madison Boomer has become very consistent with her serving, which has helped tremendously. Kori Fitzgerald had a couple of big hits at critical points of the match and Heidi Hoffmockel had a couple of big blocks to make sure everyone in the stands kept watching."

Although she is unable to contribute on the court due to injury, Lahr noted the valuable presence of senior outside hitter Emmy Pickett. "Emmy was hurt in a tournament early in the year, but she has showed continued support for the team, constantly cheering on the bench. She wants to be out there so badly, but she is working to keep her team motivated even when she can’t be on the court."

This week Coronado is at Patrick Henry Tuesday and will be home Thursday to play Morse. Both varsity contests start at 3:30 pm.

If you are a fan of Cross Country, or if you just want to see 120 kids running and having a good time, Coronado Middle School is hosting the weekly South Coast Middle School League Cross Country meet Wednesday at Tidelands Park. The meet will begin at 3:30 pm. To review the results of past meets, please visit www.CrownCity.com/middle.

The CHS Cross Country Team, although training diligently, does not compete for the next two weeks.

CHS Girls Tennis Head Coach Robbin Adair supplies us with an update on his team’s play from last week.

"Tuesday we traveled to Granite Hills and took on the best team in East County. They prevailed 15-3, but we had some real good efforts. Spencer Berman won two of our three points, beating their No. 2 by the score 7-5 and their No. 3 by the score of 6-4. She also lost a really close set to their No. 1 at 5-7. The other two singles players Jen Carney and Grace Lancaster lost all three sets. Our third point came as a bit of a surprise. Our top two doubles teams made up of Allie Gordon/Hannah Schneider and Loren Metzger/Amanda Purvis each got swept in good, competitive sets. But the No. 3 team of Simmi Deo/Cori Morse managed to defeat their No. 3 team in a tiebreaker.

Wednesday we hosted Canyon Crest. We were hoping to beat them, but they proved to be a little too deep for us and we lost 12-6. Carney, Gordon and Purvis each managed to win a set in singles. Interestingly, their No. 1 player is Page Press, the granddaughter of long-time Hotel Del Tennis Pro Ben Press. Our No. 2 player Allie Gordon is the granddaughter of the previous Hotel Del Coronado pro Alex Gordon, who was an absolute institution in San Diego area tennis for many decades. In doubles, Berman/Schneider took two of three sets, while Deo/Metzger won one. Hannah Glasoe/Andrea Wheeler played No. 3 doubles and lost three tough sets.

Thursday we opened up Western League play at University City. Their entire team from last year is back intact, and they are tough, seasoned players. In singles Berman again played really well, as did Allie Gordon and Natalie Brooks, but only Berman was able to break into the win column. We lost four sets by a total of six games. In doubles Carney/Schneider as well as Metzger/Purvis were both able to defeat their No. 2 team, but our third doubles of Tatiana Chahine/Angelina Graumann were unable to win a set.

This week we continue Western League play with matches against Scripps Ranch and La Jolla, both at Coronado on Tuesday and Thursday."

Over the summer in our August 2, 2006 edition, we wrote a feature on CHS Alumnus Joe Woerman (CHS ’01), as he progresses up the ladder of minor league baseball in his quest to reach the Big Show.

Woerman, 23, spent much of last season pitching for the Inland Empire 66ers of the High ‘A’ California League. An 11^th round pick of the Seattle Mariners organization, Woerman put up some impressive numbers for a set-up man, posting a 2-0 record, with an earned run average of 2.67. Pitching in 24 games and 30 innings, he struck out 31 hitters, while walking 15. Opposing hitters hit .250 against him.

Woerman, who throws a fastball in the low 90’s, hopefully, will earn a promotion in the Mariners system for next year.

Thanks to the Axelson Statistical Service (Natter Father Joe Axelson in this case) for the updated numbers on Woerman.