Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

21 March 2007 Issue #11

Last week it was noted in this space that if the CHS Baseball Team defeated Sweetwater in their early-week game, the Islanders would advance to the finals of the Bully’s East Tournament. The Islanders accomplished their end of the bargain, vanquishing the Red Devils 6-0. But then things got complicated.

The 18-team tournament is divided into two nine-team divisions. The problem was that no one, with the possible exception of the event organizer, knew which team was in what division. It turned out that Patrick Henry, also undefeated, was in the same side of the bracket as the undefeated Islanders. So, tournament organizers went to tiebreakers, the first of which was head-to-head meetings. No go there, as the teams didn’t play each other. The next tiebreaker was runs allowed. The Patriots yielded 14 runs in their five wins, while the Islanders gave up 18 runs in their five conquests.

The good news, although it may be stretching the term a bit, was that Henry went on to win the tournament title game with a 2-1 victory over La Jolla.

Islander Head Coach Sam Ceci was philosophical about the bizarre turn of events, but only to a point. “We did everything we were supposed to do. The records of our opponents (in tournament play) were 18-12 and Henry’s was 12-18. We’ll have to have them spell out the brackets more clearly next time. But, we’re off to a pretty good start.”

Perhaps the best news is the power explosion turned in by the Islanders, as Alex Rowan, Tim Leary and Keith Englehart turned in back-to-back-to-back homers in the Sweetwater game. Neither Ceci nor longtime Coronado baseball statistician Bill Seager had seen that occurrence durign their tenure with the program. “I had never even seen three homers in the same inning,” said Ceci. “This happened in a six or seven pitch span. It was boom, boom, boom.”

Lefty Benson Lorden pitched four innings for Coronado, faced only 14 Red Devil batters and won his second game of the young season. Lorden has yet to allow a run in the nine innings he has pitched this season. Steven Conrad pitched two innings of shutout ball, followed by a scoreless inning from closer Josh Fink to close out the game.

With no mid-week game scheduled due to the creativity in the Bully’s bracket, Coronado was off until Saturday, when they hosted their neighbor to the south Mar Vista for a doubleheader. The Islanders didn’t exhibit a great deal of hospitality though as they ran their record to 7-0 via a sweep of the Mariners by the scores of 7-4 and 10-3.

“It made for a week that gave us three wins, without too much of a challenge,” said Ceci. “Saturday, we went up 3-0 and they battled back and went up 4-3. Then we came back with a vengeance. There are a lot of good signs in all of that.”

Brian Crabb was the starting pitcher in the opening game of the twin bill, pitching four innings and earning the win. Tucker Johnson, Chas Marks and Conrad combined to pitch the final three frames, with Conrad being awarded a save.

Englehart swung the big stick in the first game, collecting three hits in four at-bats, stealing two bases, scoring twice and driving in one run. Centerfielder Danny Cepin supplied power and speed, contributing a triple and also stealing two bases in two attempts.

The second game found Lorden; relatively fresh from having four wisdom teeth extracted three days before; continuing his season-long shutout over a two-inning stint. The senor southpaw pitched to only six hitters before yielding to Kyle Couture, Josh Fink and Kyle Pokorny on the mound, with Fink being credited with the victory. “We brought in Fink and he slammed the door on them” said Ceci of the rangy junior right-hander. “He struck out two guys to get out of the inning. Then he breezed through the next inning and got the win.”

Cepin collected two hits including a double. In a statistical oddity, 10 different Islanders scored one run each in the victory. Tucker Johnson joined Cepin as the only Coronado players with an extra base hit.

In the early portion of the season, several Coronado hitters are turning in some pretty impressive numbers. Englehart is hitting .500, Cepin is cruising along at .458 and Leary is hitting at a .438 clip. Mason Mills is the team RBI leader with eight, while Cepin leads the squad in both runs scored (10) and base hits (11).

This week the Islanders host San Diego Tuesday at 4 pm. Thursday the team travels to Point Loma and Saturday Coronado hosts Mira Mesa, one of the Top 10 teams in San Diego, with a starting time of 2 pm for the varsity contest.

CHS Girls Lacrosse Off to Strong Start in 2007

Competing with the CHS Baseball team for the fastest start to the spring is the Islander Girls Lacrosse Team, which has opened the season with a record of 4-0. Teams falling to Coronado thus far include Monte Visa, San Dieguito, Scripps Ranch and Rancho Bernardo.

Coronado defeated the RB Broncos 15-6, which prompted Islander Head Coach Jessica Battle to quip, “Either we were really good, or they’re not so great. They have been good in the past and they are a large school with a good program.”

One of the strengths of the squad is found in the midfield, occupied by Greer Goebels, Melissa Humphrey and Bria Phillips. Goebels and Humphrey return from last year’s squad. Phillips, who also starred on the CHS Girls Basketball Team, is a transfer from Seattle. “She is fantastic and a huge asset,” said Battle of the junior multi-sport athlete. “I think we have one of the best attacks (as a unit) in the county.”

High-scoring Hannah Sebenaler, who also starred on the Girls Water Polo squad, returns at line attack, where she is joined by freshman Coco O’Brien. Goebels and Sebenaler are the 2007 team captains.

The defense is anchored by goalie Alyssa Littin, who returns in that role from last season. “She is doing great so far,” Battle said of the junior net minder. “She worked really hard over the summer and I expect really good things from her this year.” The defenders are all new to the varsity level and include D wings Kirsten Krock and Sandy Shepherd and line D players Becka Runyon, Jena Harrison and Ally Wolfe.

Other elements remain similar to past seasons, including the other best teams in the county, which Coronado will have to fight their way through on their way to a potential CIF title. Lacrosse, both boys and girls, competes in one division in the San Diego Section. Battle thinks Poway, which didn’t graduate any players from last season, is likely the team to beat. Other title favorites include La Costa Canyon and possibly Torrey Pines.

The Islanders play in the City Conference, where they will again find La Jolla as their primary competition. The two schools have competed for the conference title for each of the past several years.

Battle will be assisted this season by Mike Fischer, who is scurrying between the Varsity and JV teams. “Mike’s daughter plays on the Coronado Middle School team and his son Kelcey graduated from CHS. Mike has been a great asset, bringing a bit of the men’s game to the team. Having a big coaching staff is good and so far it is working out really well. Also returning to the varsity level is Mickey Crow, the long-time varsity assistant, who jumps in where needed. Joanie Huck and CHS alumna Ashley Huck are mentoring the JV squad.

“We’re coming off of a 10-day lull,” Battle said of the early-season schedule. “We don’t have a game until Friday when we host Serra High School at 7 pm. Then we have a big tournament this weekend. Our next big game is March 30 when we host La Jolla. We are focusing on the teams to come, one game at a time.”

CHS Track Team Members Perform Well in Bronco Invitational

Members of the CHS Track and Field Team competed last week and Head Coach George Green supplies the good news. “The two most-often asked questions among the elite long and triple jumping community after this weekend’s Bronco Invitational, were “Who is this new kid from Coronado,” and “Where was he last year?”

The new kid is junior Kyle Brown, a transfer from Lemoore High School in the CIF Central Section. On his second try in the triple jump, Brown demolished the Islander triple jump school record, set over 25 years ago by Pete Rogers. Brown went on to win the invitational flight of the event.

Normally records that old are bettered by an inch or so, but Brown added 15 inches to Rogers’ standard of 44 feet, 2.25 inches to reach the record distance of 45 feet, 5.25 inches. Brown also came very close to two other marks by winning the open heat of the 100-meters in 11.55 against a 5 to 8 knot head wind, and soaring to within six inches of the oldest CHS track record in the books, Ralph Mitchell’s long mark record of 23 feet, .75 inches set in 1938. Brown was edged in this event by San Diego Section leader Gary Lee from Hoover, but Kyle will go a lot farther as the track season progresses. His jump of 22 feet, 7 inches puts him among the county’s Top 3 so far this season.

During the long jump competition, Sallie Privett was busy running away with the Frosh Girls 1,600-meter race with a time of 5:23.3, so Brown ran over and gave her a high-five while she was still in the finish chute. It was a nice Islander moment on the track. Adrianna Davies placed seventh in the same event in 5:53.2.

Ben Enowitz set a personal record in the 3,200-meter run, with a time of 10:12.94, after passing through the first mile in 5 minutes flat. In the Girls Invitational pole vault, Danielle Eckert placed second to national leader Emily Mattoon, with a vault of 10 feet, 1 inch.

Sarah Player had a busy day as well. Probably the two worst events you can choose to combine in a track meet are the high jump and the 300-meter hurdles, because the hurdles always seem to come up when you’re attempting the winning height. Sarah’s successful attempt at 5 feet, 2 inches came as the 300-meter hurdlers were being called to the track. It looked like that would be enough to win the high jump event, but the other girl still left in the competition also cleared the height on her last try. We knew she wouldn’t have any legs left after the hurdle race, so we called down to ask if she could take all three attempts at 5-4 before she ran. The official agreed and she made the height on her third try, which turned out to be the winning height.

Then she ran over to the track and placed second in the invitational flight of the 300 hurdles. She came back afterwards to the high jump to try for a personal record, but sure enough, her legs were dead.

Other Islanders competing included Neisha Scales, who placed fourth in the Open 100-meters in 13.76, against a strong head wind. Kenny Twomey placed 13^th in the Open Triple Jump with an effort of 39 feet, 11.75 inches.

You can follow Islander Track on our website at IslanderTrack.com.”

Merrill Leads Boys Volleyball Squad

Spanish Teacher, former world class volleyball player and all-around good guy Steve Merrill is now at the helm of the CHS Boys Volleyball Team and he has a fine group of athletes playing for him. Included among them is Matt Oakley, one of the stars of the CHS Basketball Team, along with Nick Hamilton and Christian Herrera, who helped lead the CHS Soccer Team to the CIF Division III title this year.

Setters include Ian Petersen, Nolan Woodhouse and Jacob Streifer. Woodhouse is suffering from a cut on his hand and should return to the Islander lineup this week. The middle blockers and outside hitters include Phil Smith, Mike Holman, Oakley, Hamilton and Herrera. Back row specialists include Paul Piscatelli, freshman Nick DeMarco and junior Dan Ross.

“We’ve played 10 games so far this season,” said the personable Merrill. “We’ve beaten Christian, Santana and we played close with Hilltop and Mira Mesa. We lost to Sweetwater twice, but gave them decent games. Basically, we beat ourselves. We also lost to Monte Vista, San Dieguito and Valley Center, who won the CIF last year. We played with them for a little while.”

The Islanders will play in a truncated version of the Central League, a grouping that includes Clairemont, Madison, Crawford and Coronado. When asked to name the favorite in league competition, Merrill replied, “It’s probably Clairemont. They are usually well-coached. I haven’t seen them in a tournament yet. Clairemont beat Christian in five games and we slapped Christian in two games in a tournament. It’s early-on in the year. If we close the holes on the blocks, hit the ball, and it all comes together, it might be a decent year for us.

Among Coronado’s non-conference opponents are Christian, Bonita Vista, Bishop’s, Mission Bay, Kearney, Mira Mesa and Sweetwater.

This week the Islanders play at Christian at 3:30 pm on Tuesday and then host half of the multi-team La Jolla Beach Tournament at the Blumenthal Sports Complex Friday after school and for much of the day Saturday.

Girls Basketball Awards Announced

The CHS Girls Basketball Team held their post-season banquet last week and the varsity team awards as announced by Head Coach Toler Goodwin included: Most Improved – Emily Bell; Best Defensive Player – Melissa Humphrey; Coach’s Award – Kelsey Branch; Co-Most Valuable Players – Bria Phillips and Tiffany Depfer.

Depfer and Phillips were named to the All-Central League First Team, with Arrielle Luna earning Second Team recognition.

Junior Varsity awards were presented to: Chantal Perez as Most Inspirational; Most Improved – Katiani Lynch; and Most Valuable Player – Samantha Saunders.

Boys Tennis Splits Two Matches

CHS Head Boys Tennis Coach Robbin Adair reports on his squad’s play. “We split two matches this week. Monday we lost a close one to Canyon Crest 12-6. They have three very good, young singles players and some very solid doubles teams. Krishna Samperio was able to sweep, but all three of his matches were very competitive, with the scores 6-3, 7-5 and 6-4.

At No. 2 singles, Evan Wheeler played well, but lost all three sets 6-0, 6-4, and 6-3. Playing at No. 3, Jordan Vance got a win when their best player had to default after his knee flared up during his match with Krishna.

Over in doubles, we got Daniel Grazian back, but he and Frankie Harrison hadn’t played together for a while and they looked a little rusty. They dropped two sets and then beat their No. 3 team in a close match. Playing No. 2 doubles Patrick Holman and Chris Mitchell lost 6-4, and 7-5 before defeating their No. 3 team. Our No. 3 team of Max Mero and Andrew Stump lost all three of their matches.

Friday we hosted Brawley and swept them in doubles, winning 15-4. They brought a fourth singles player, which accounts for the extra point in the final score. Krishna swept all three sets by the identical scores of 6-2. Patrick Holman got beat by their Nos. 1 and 2, but then shut out their No. 3. Brenton Mashburn, playing singles for the first time played well. He beat the No. 3 by the score of 6-3 and then against their No. 2, came back from a 5-2 deficit to draw even at 5-5. He lost the last two games, but played some really competitive points.

Mitch Moran played their fourth player and shut him out 6-0, 6-0. In doubles, Grazian/Harrison swept three by the scores of 6-1, 6-0, and 6-2. Chris Mitchell and Evan Wheeler played together for the first time and shut out all three opponents 6-0. Collin Bowman and Jeff Miller played heir first match ever and won all three 7-6, 6-3, and 6-0.

This week we host San Dieguito Wednesday and then start league with La Jolla here on Thursday.

‘Young’ Is the Operative Word for CHS Softball Team

Head Coach Marti Bonelli returns to the helm of the CHS Softball program this year after a couple of years away. She and Asst. Coach Rachel Lozano will ride into battle against a tough Western League schedule with a team that has no seniors and will start three freshmen on a regular basis. In summary, the team is really young, but talented.

Returning varsity players include: Brandy Bible, Sandra Cepin, Rosie Harris, Kelly McCray, Christy Mebust and Alexis Wright. Other players include junior Nora Kaminsky, sophomores Lizzie Nebo and Lauren Zeleniak, and freshmen Jessica Adair, Briana Feist, and Shannon Julius.

“We hope our players can maintain a positive attitude and keep on a very sharp learning curve,” said Bonelli of her squad. “We play in a very competitive league and we are going to be playing schools with much larger programs than ours. We have plenty of talent, good athletes on the squad, and we expect improvement on a day-by-day basis. Junior leadership from Wright, Mebust, Bible, Kaminski, McCray and Harris is important. The freshmen and sophomores on the team bring an unusual blend of ages and experience into the equation. We are excited by the prospect of a challenging season.”

In softball, pitching is of paramount importance and Bonelli will send a mixture of Wright, Feist and Cepin to the mound. Wright doubles as an outfielder, Feist also plays shortstop and Cepin plays first base while she isn’t pitching.

So far this season, the Islanders lost 2-1 to Bishop’s; defeated Marian Catholic 7-2; lost to Otay Ranch 7-3; lost to Hilltop 8-4; and beat the Eastlake ‘B’ team 11-1 in Game No. 3 of the Hilltop Tournament.

“We took the game seriously,” said Bonelli of the contest which pitted Coronado against an Eastlake team comprised primarily of JV players. “We pounded out 11 runs on eight hits and eight walks. The hottest bat of the game belonged to sophomore first baseman Sandra Cepin. She was 3-3 and had seven RBIs. Four of those came on her first inning grand slam homer. Briana Feist dominated the game from the mound, giving up only two hits, while striking out seven.”

This week Coronado will play three games, with the first being Monday at Sweetwater. The second game will be held Tuesday at Green Field in Coronado against University City as the Islanders begin Western League play. Thursday Coronado travels to Castle Park for a non-league game at 3 pm.

CHS Surf Team Finishes Season Against Mission Bay

Having grown up in the Midwest, and never been on a surf board, its best that this portion of Nado Natterings is turned over to Carolyn Mitchell, who talks about the CHS Surf Team’s recent success.

“The Islander Surf Team beat Mission Bay in a team vs. team competition March 11 at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. The ocean and beach conditions were nearly perfect with the 2 to 4 foot surf remaining glassy all day.

Coronado’s Sean MacKenzie, Cliff Nies, Gabe Alari, Fabio, John Hogan, and Chris Mitchell all surfed well against a polished Mission Bay team. Taylor Mitchell and Jack Christiansen finished first and second during their team heat to keep Coronado neck and neck with Mission Bay.

Long time Coronado Coach John Gillem, coaching his last contest for the school; put all three of his star girls in for the last heat. Mary Hogan, Brianna Giorgione and Erin Kraft surfed well and their cumulative points proved enough to put Coronado over the top for their final win of the season.

On the individual side of the contest, Taylor Mitchell was on fire, placing first in two preliminary longboard rounds and advanced directly to the finals. The public address announcer described the heat as ‘pro-level surfing’ with San Diego’s best high school long boarders battling it out for top honors. Taylor’s helicopter in the middle of a good wave proved to earn the deciding points. Congratulations to everyone on a great and fun day of surfing.”

Callahan on Cal South National Cup Winning Team

Congratulations to Coronado Middle School student Cassie Callahan, who along with her teammates on the San Diego Surf recently won the Girls Under 13 Cal South National Cup, which is competition designed for elite teams.

Cassie’s Surf team took home the trophy after winning their bracket and then winning their bracket and four more games. The team will represent Region 4 in the national tournament to be played in June.