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Nado Natterings |
A weekly column by David Axelson |
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Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation
4 July 2007 Issue #26
This week we’ll check in with some future, current and past Islander athletes; make a brief stop at the Blumenthal Sports Complex at CHS; discuss athletic physicals for Coronado Middle School and Coronado High School student-athletes; and finally take a whimsical look at a couple of professional baseball-related items.
Callahan the Elder Helps Surf Soccer to Title
A couple of weeks ago (June 13th) we ran a note regarding Abigail Callahan, a fifth grader at CMS who had won the Midget Girls Division of the high jump at a county-wide USA Track and Field competition. George Green, who is the CHS head track coach, noted that Callahan, the granddaughter of former Coronado Mayor Pat Callahan, possessed natural talent for the event.
Well, now it’s older sister Cassie Callahan’s turn to get some well-deserved publicity. Callahan The Elder competes for the prestigious San Diego Surf Girls Under 13 Team, a team which won the California National Cup Soccer championship in April. Winning the title meant they were the best team in Southern California in their age group and allowed them to compete in the Region IV Division of the U.S. Youth Soccer Championships.
Region IV includes the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
So the Surf trundled off to Las Vegas and competed in 100 degree heat, besting the state champs from Utah, New Mexico and Washington in pool play. Then they topped the Hawaii state champs in the quarter-finals, and the Arizona state champs in the semi-finals. That of course meant they faced the California North Champion Mustangs in the finals.
In a double-overtime affair, the Surf topped the Mustangs 3-2 to win the title. For the tournament as a whole, the Surf outscored their opponents 19-3.
Congratulations to the Callahan clan. Apparently athletic talent runs in the family.
CHS Boys Lacrosse Players on West Coast All Starz Squad
Much like water polo, someone from Coronado is always playing lacrosse during the summer and apparently doing pretty well in the process. Four CHS players including seniors-to-be Ry Stanley and Cory Couture along with rising juniors Daniel Nevitt and Johnny Poe were picked from a pool (be sure to notice the literary tie-in with water polo above) of 840 high school players to compete with the West Coast All Starz in July. The competition will be held at Yale University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
The four Islanders beat out prospective applicants from Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and Colorado to make the squad. It is anticipated that there will be more than 80 college lacrosse recruiters on hand for the event.
“This is a chance to show the East Coasters what the West Coast lacrosse players are made of,” said Stanley. “Last year the West Coast dominated the games. We’re looking forward to a week of intense training and games. We hope to show everyone just how good our CHS lacrosse program really is.”
Cummins Signs Professional Baseball Contract with Marlins Organization
CHS Alumnus Morgan Cummins (CHS ’03) has signed a professional baseball contract to play with the Jamestown Jammers in the Florida Marlins organization. He has been assigned to the New York-Penn League, which is a Class ‘A’ short season league. But the main thing is the 6-foot, 210-pound Cummins is living the dream as a professional baseball player.
I had the distinction of coaching Morgan in Majors Little League in Coronado, instructing him in the fine points of being a catcher. Morgan also played shortstop and pitched for the Cubs Majors team. One thing he never needed instruction on was how to hit. As an 11-year-old in Majors, Morgan hit .586.
On to CHS and Cummins was a standout third baseman and pitcher for the Islanders. He had enough innate baseball talent to make the team at Claremont McKenna College, where the right-handed hitting and throwing Cummins was a standout for the Stags.
During the 2007 season, Cummins back to being a catcher at the collegiate level, hit .444 with 5 homers and 40 RBIs. The RBI total doesn’t sound that impressive, but that represents one RBI for each game Claremont McKenna played this season. In addition, Cummins had a .581 on-base percentage. Cummins was named to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team in 2004 and 2006-07.
On to Jamestown and at the end of last week, Cummins had a home run in the Jammers 11-7 victory over Williamsport and was 3-9 (.333) with three RBIs in four games played this season. Congratulations to Morgan and the CHS baseball program.
Woerman Continues Pitching Career with Mariners Organization
When last we checked (July 31, 2006) with another CHS Alumnus Joe Woerman (CHS ’01), the 6-foot, 3-inch right-handed power pitcher was toiling for the Inland Empire 66ers in the High ‘A’ California State League. Well, good things have happened to Woerman this season, as he is now with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx of the AA Southern League.
Woerman has been converted to a starting pitcher. Formerly he had been a late inning set-up man. In 15 games started this season, Woerman is 3-4 with a very respectable earned run average of 3.16. He has struck out 71 batters in 85 innings, which are also good numbers at that level. The short-term bad news is that the Diamond Jaxx are roughly 15 games under .500 at this point in their season.
In current professional baseball, it isn’t uncommon for players to make the jump from the AA level direct to Major League Baseball. The Diamond Jaxx are an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners organization.
CHS Gym Floor Update
A fire which started in the Coronado High School Gymnasium 10 days ago, while the floor was being resurfaced, caused approximately 5,000 gallons of water to flow from overhead sprinklers onto the basketball floor below. The latest update is that the floor is undergoing a two week period where it is covered with plastic sheeting and warm air is being circulated under the plastic sheeting and over the floor.
Think ‘personal sauna’ for nearly 12,000 square feet of bare flooring. This approach is an attempt to dry the floor itself and evaporate the water which accumulated below the floor.
Athletic Physicals for CHS and CMS Athletes
Dr. Cassandra Stroud has assisted with the setup of athletic physicals for the 2007-08 athletic season. The physicals will be given Wednesday, August 8, 2007 in the 500 building at Coronado High School. Student-athletes should enter through the 7th Street parking lot.
Please note that this is a new location for the physicals, which previously were held at the Bank of America Building in downtown Coronado.
Student-athletes with last names beginning with the letters A-L will start at 5:30 pm and those with M-Z surnames will start at 6:30 pm. Last call for physicals will be at 7:30 pm and the physical exams will conclude at 8 pm.
The cost for the physicals is $15 per student or $25 for two students from the same immediate family. The fee is $10 per student for three or more students from the same family. All proceeds from the athletic physicals are donated by the physicians to the operation of the athletic training room at Coronado High School.
Prior to the exams, the two-page athletic physical form found at www.IslanderSportsFoundation.com/CMS-Physical.pdf should be downloaded and all of the questions on page one should be completed. Both pages of the physical form should be brought to the exam. Checks should be made payable to: The Islander Sports Foundation.
In addition to Dr. Stroud, we would like to thank Dr. Peter Kelly, Dr. Donald Dill, Dr. Kevin Considine, Dr. John Pedrotty, Dr. Laura Fagerlund, Dr. Trish Kettlehake, Dr. Gretchen Deel, Dr. Patrick Yassini, Dr. Genevieve Bloom, Dr. David Hansen, Dr. Mike Thompson, Dr. Nancy Adam, Dr. Roger Oen, Sadaf Ilyas, P.A. and Dr. Matthew Horn for donating their time and efforts to this event.
For question regarding the athletic physicals, please contact the Islander Sports Foundation at 435-1343. The event is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Chuck Eaton, who was one of the first participants in this program in the 1990’s.
Sports Illustrated Issue Worth Your Time
Your Natterer has subscribed to “Sports Illustrated” for 35 years and frankly for the past few years the publication has been a quick read and very disposable. The summer double issue, which is dated July 2-9, 2007 and has a cover picture of the Hanson Brothers from the movie “Slapshot” on the cover, is well worth your time and maybe even the $3.99 cover price.
There is a feature on the Hanson Brothers, the lovable goons from what I consider to be the best sports movie ever made. There are also ‘Where Are They Now” pieces on Hakeem Olajuwon, boxers Ernie Holmes and Gerry Cooney; baseball player and manager Mario Mendoza and his infamous ‘Mendoza Line’: baseball’s Sal Bando; plus Al Oerter and Dave Wottle from track and field.
Also featured is modern-day sprinter Tyson Gray, who just ran the combination of a 100-meter dash (9.84 seconds) and a 200-meter dash (19.62 seconds) in 29.46 seconds, in the fastest time that double has ever been accomplished. This issue of SI may actually take you more than an half an hour to read.
Baseball Pitching Pool or How Not to Over Think
For the last couple of years Your Natterer has been involved in a pitching pool run by a friend from my days in Kansas City named Alan Hoskins. The concept of this pool is very simple – pick the five pitchers in all of Major League Baseball who together will win the most games. You are also required to list a sixth player as an alternate in case someone picks the same five pitchers you do. The entry fee is $3 and roughly 100 people enter annually. Normally a winning total of 90 games, plus or minus, wins the pool.
Last year, after giving the matter about 90 seconds of thought, I finished one slot out of the money. My personal pitching rotation had a good year and ‘we’ were injury free.
This season I figured if 90 seconds was good enough for a strong finish, then 60 minutes spent selecting my 2007 mound staff would win me the big bucks. As soon as my entry blank hit the mail, Randy Johnson (He’s currently 4-3 and I figured he would be happier back in Arizona than in New York) and Chris Carpenter (allegedly the best pitcher in the National League, pitching for the World Champs from St. Louis is 0-1) both went on the injured list.
So Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Red Sox (9-5); Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins (9-6); and Carlos Zambrano (I had to select a Cub, plus ‘Big Z’ is in his contract year) are struggling collectively to carry the load. All of this proves ‘over-thinking’ at least in sports wagering, is over-rated. Color me ‘out of the green’ for 2007.
Kouzmanoff ‘Goes Yard’ for the Padres
This column is normally written early Monday morning and wings its way via E-mail to the Coronado Eagle and Journal home office around noon. Last week’s edition contained some pithy remarks by me about the Padres newly arrived third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, who was supposed to be the much-needed power hitter for the middle of San Diego’s batting order.
Tuesday night, one night after the column went to bed and shortly before it hit the newsstands Wednesday morning, Kouzmanoff hit a homer to straight away center field to win a game for the Padres over San Francisco by the score of 3-2. I had to admit I had mixed feelings as the ball sailed over the Giants (and former Padre) Dave Roberts’ outstretched glove.
Kouzmanoff, a third baseman by trade, is barely hitting (.218) his 210-pound weight as we go to press this week, but he did wear out the Cubs pitching when the Chicago National League Baseball Club visited a month ago. But hey, you can’t win them all. See the ‘Pitching Pool’ note above.