Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

29 April 2009 Issue #17

The Islander Varsity Baseball Team sandwiched two wins around a tough loss last week to run their overall record to 11-9. Their 3-2 conference mark is good for a tie for third place in the seven-team Western League, behind Cathedral Catholic (3-0), Point Loma (4-1) and essentially tied with University City (2-1). The uneven game totals are due to byes in the league schedule.

“It was a good week,” said Coronado Head Coach Sam Ceci. “We won two out of three, but we should have won three out of three.”

The Islanders started the proceedings Monday with a 2-1 victory over La Jolla, which was highlighted by another fine pitching outing from senior Bryan Crabb. The senior hurler scattered three hits, struck out 12 Viking hitters and did not yield any earned runs in the complete-game victory. “Crabb has his command back,” Ceci said of the San Diego State-bound Crabb. “He looked real sharp.”

Senior centerfielder Keith Englehart scored both Islander runs and stole three bases on the day. The RBIs came from the bats of seniors Blake Malkemus and Justin Parsons. Coronado only managed five hits but pulled out the win. 

Tuesday the Vikings and the Islanders faced off again, this time with Coronado on the road. La Jolla threw their senior ace Patrick Christensen, while the Islanders countered with their senior associate ace Kyle Couture. Neither pitcher wound up with the decision, although according to Ceci, “Kyle outpitched him.”The game went into the 10^th inning before La Jolla pulled out a 2-1 victory. Couture, who recently signed to pitch for Sonoma State, yielded one earned run in seven innings, while striking out nine.

But a balky offense contributed to the Coronado loss. “We stranded 14 runners in that game,” Ceci said, “including seven runners who were in scoring position with less than two out. We imploded on the bases and made three base running errors that shot ourselves in the foot. It’s pretty amazing that we didn’t win that game.”

Mason Mills, Ryan Shepherd and Malkemus all had doubles in the game, with Malkemus scoring the lone Islander run. Bryan Karamoto had the Coronado RBI. Crabb showed he can handle the bat as well as heave the spheroid, joining Malkemus and Shepherd with two hits each. The Islanders had 12 hits in the game, but could only manage two runs.

 Thursday the Islanders traveled to University City and incredibly the ‘men left on base’ total reached 13 in the game, this time spread over seven innings.  Parsons pitched for 5.1 innings and gave up only three hits and two runs. However, his pitch location waxed and waned a tad, with a total of eight walks allowed in the contest. “J.P. wasn’t as sharp Thursday, but people have been having trouble scoring on him,” Ceci noted.

Despite these minor challenges, the Islanders held on for the 5-3 victory over the Centurions. Parsons had the lone multiple hit game for Coronado, a two-hit game that included a double. The only other Islander extra base hit was a triple from Englehart. Shepherd scored twice and single runs were scored by Hunter Ralph, Parsons and Karamoto. Crabb threw the final 1.2 innings of the game, to earn the save.

Ceci believes that the senior starting trio of Crabb, Couture and Parsons is the best pitching staff he has had at Coronado. “Our pitching has been extraordinary. If we were able to score some runs, we would be a juggernaut. Our defense made some nice plays Thursday and in the last four or five games we have shown signs of getting key hits. Our pitching staff gives us a better than even chance to win each time we go out there.”

Parsons currently has an ERA of 1.65, while Crabb weighs in at 1.72 and Couture is close behind with a 1.74. Among them, they have yielded only 26 earned runs in a total of 106.2 innings this season.Tuesday Coronado hosts University City for the completion of their series and then Thursday they host Madison for the first of their two-game set. Both games will start at 3 pm.

Islander Softball Beats Mission Bay 7-1

The CHS Softball Team found a good way to conclude their first round of Western League play, defeating Mission Bay 7-1 at Green Field Thursday. The Islanders were paced by starting pitcher Brianna Feist, who struck out seven Buccaneer hitters, gave up only four hits and pitched a complete game.

“Brianna pitched an excellent game,” said Head Coach Tony Isabella. “She was in total command and did very well.”

Offensively, the Islanders were paced by Nicole Aguilar, who was 3-3, with two singles and a double. More importantly, she drove in two runs.

“The key to our win was that nobody on our team struck out,” Isabella said of the unusual fast pitch softball statistic. “We put the bat on the ball and good things happened. And it’s good to be able to go into the batting cages again.” A lack of power to the softball field, which is located behind Village Elementary School, prevented the team from using the pitching machine in practice and didn’t allow the sprinkling system to water the field for a total of five weeks.

Isabella also noted the contributions of his coaching staff, including infield coach Karen Van Ert, outfield coach Lt. JG Brenda Smith and pitching coach Janine McNaughton. “They deserve credit for this win. They have been great all season, providing positive reinforcement to the team and their coaching has helped put the team together. The coaches helped bring the team’s confidence back.”

The Mission Bay game ended on a spectacular note, with second baseman Bailey Haines making a great over-the-shoulder catch, while sprinting away from the infield. “It was a great way to end the game,” said Isabella.

After a game and a bye last week, the Islanders have two home games this week. Tuesday they host La Jolla and Thursday they play Point Loma. Both games begin at 3 pm.

CHS Sailing Team Concludes Strong Season

Coronado High School’s Head Sailing Coach Jon Rodgers sends along a summary of his team’s recent performance in the Pacific Coast Championships. “The Coronado High School Sailing Team finished their 2008-09 season with a strong fifth place finish at the Gold (Varsity) Pacific Coast Championship and earned a sixth place finish at the Silver (JV) PCC’s.

The Gold regatta included the Top 20 teams in California and was sailed off Santa Clara Point in Mission Bay. The Silver competition was sailed out of Richmond Yacht Club in San Francisco Bay. Both Coronado High School teams had their best overall finishes of the season and the Gold narrowly missed qualifying for the National Championship, finishing just two points out of fourth place (after 26 races) which would have earned the team one of the coveted spots for Nationals. Considering there were 26 races completed, CHSST missed qualifying by less than one boat per race.

For Coronado, the Gold Team was represented in the ‘A’ Division by Hans Henken and Kaitlin Dunphey, who came within one point of winning the ‘A’ Division title. The ‘B’ Division entry included Philip Lozier, Alexa Cavalieri and Karisa Chapa, who finished sixth in their division. Most impressive is that both Henken and Lozier had the best results of their high school careers at the most important regatta of the year.

Other highlights included Lozier finishing in the Top Ten in all but one race out of eight on Saturday and Henken winning three of his six races on Sunday, including the last race by the largest winning margin of the weekend.

The CHSST Silver ‘A’ Division was represented by Alex Wood and Katie Dowling and the Silver ‘B’ entry included Sally Harris, Jenny Melnick and Morgan Bower.

The weekend had very special significance as this event was the last regatta for graduating senior and Team Captain Alex Wood. Alex has represented CHSST with incredible reliability, service to his team and leadership since he began with the program four years ago. The team is very grateful for his commitment, proud to have him as team captain this year and wish him all the best in his appointment to Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy.

In other news from the same event, Coronado sailors from Francis Parker H.S. including Cooper Dressler, (with a fourth place finish in Gold B),  Ryan Foote, Robbi Robyn and Coach Blaire Herron, qualified for Nationals for the first time in school history. By finishing sixth at PCC’s, Francis Parker secured their spot at Nationals based on their overall season performance.

Coronado Yacht Club sailor and former Coronado resident Noelle Herring placed second in the Silver B division and helped her Bishop’s team to take third place overall in Silver PCC’s.”

CHS Swim Team Turns Fine Times During Recent Meets

CHS Head Swim Coach Dave Throop updates his team’s progress and lists some of their better, most recent performances. “With three meets in the coming week and then a week to regroup prior to our final competition before the Conference and CIF meets, I believe we're training and preparing to swim well in the coming weeks. 

There are still some technical components we need to shore up on in order for us to be ultimately successful, but with a few weeks left there's still time.  I'm looking forward to the championship part of the season and seeing the rewards of the athletes work and diligence pay dividends.”

Some of the highlights from the recent meet against Patrick Henry from the Boys side include: Andrew Ireland swimming a season best time in the 200 free in 1:47.15, with Rex Butler finishing in 1:47.39; Michael Aguilar swimming a season best 2:08.04 in the 200 individual medley; Brennan Casey swimming a personal best time of 52.48 in the 100 free; and in the 500 free, Tommy Schofer, Lex Aponte and Alex Johnson turning in fine times of 5:12.34, 5:14.40 and 5:19.22 respectively.

On the Girls side, in the 200 free, Maddie Murphy swam a personal best 2:06.46 while Kathy Bailey and Michelle Carroll swam strong times of 2:10.49 and 2:10.72 respectively;
competing in the 100 fly, Ashley Young swam a nice race in 1:01.55, while Kaylee Ginnane swam a strong time of 1:08.89; and finally in the 100 breast, Hannah Green swam a nice 1:15.70 while Rachel Rodriguez swam 1:16.30 and Natalie Stringer finished in a good time of 1:21.34.

Coronado High Sports Medicine Team Finishes Third

Last weekend the CHS Sports Medicine Team (the picture of 11 students in lab coats and track spikes comes to mind), under the direction of CHS Athletic Trainer Connie Martinez, finished in third place in the High School Sports Medicine Competition. The competition was graded on 100 written questions, plus a practical examination and was held in Los Angeles.

Competing for Coronado were Jacob Landers, Chris Maskevich, Delaney Luna, Hilary Hansen, Leslie Orell, Lizzie Nebo, Ryan Hughes, Robbie Cattell, Alicia Esquivel, Grace Puglisi, and Megan Moran.

Among the 20 schools competing in the Small Schools Division with Coronado were Arcadia High School, Beverly Hills High School, Christian Brothers High School, Downey High School, La Canada High School, Palm Springs High School, St. Augustine High School, Valencia High School and Venice High School. Congratulations to Coach Martinez and all of her students.

Islander Girls Lacrosse Maintains Their Winning Ways

It was two more games and two more victories for the CHS Girls Lacrosse Team last week. First they dominated Patrick Henry 14-5, with multiple goal games coming from Michaela Guerrera, Coco O’Brien, Melissa Humphrey, Jillian Reidy, and Alex Reidy. Single goals were scored by Corey De Marco and Kaitlyn Couture.

The major match of the week came Friday when Coronado hosted Cathedral Catholic and won by the score of 7-6. “We played well as a team,” said Islander Head Coach Jessica Battle. “Our shooting was really off. We just couldn’t score goals. The score would have been a lot higher if we were hitting our shots. Taylor Udell did well in goal with quite a few saves. They are a tough team. Cathedral has gotten better and better every year.”Two goals each came from the Reidy sisters and Humphrey, with O’Brien scoring once.

The week also had an international component as a team from England came to San Diego and played the Islander JV with the locals coming out on top 9-7. The Girls Lacrosse Booster Club hosted the visiting English team to dinner after the game. “They had a great time,” Battle said of both her team and the visitors. “They were here in the area for quite a while. They played Torrey Pines and a middle school All-Star team. They had nice weather for the most part.”

This week the Islanders host Scripps Ranch Tuesday at 4:30 pm and according to Battle it should be a good game. “I’m excited to play them. They are in the City Conference with Coronado and it should be a tough one.”

Boys Tennis Team Battles in Western League Matches

The CHS Boys Tennis Team lost twice last week, but played a competitive match with Scripps Ranch before losing 13-5. They then lost to perennial prep tennis power La Jolla by the score of 15-3. Head Coach Jim Mashburn summarized the week by saying, “We lost, but we played some good matches.”

Freshman No. 1 singles player Sean Lee had a fine week, winning two of his three singles sets against Scripps Ranch Tuesday. He was joined in the ‘win’ column by Patrick Holman who won a set at No. 2 singles; the No. 1 doubles tandem of Daniel Grazian and Chase Dalton won one set; and Michael Whalen and Chas Mashburn won one set at No. 2 doubles.

In the La Jolla match, Lee won two sets again at No. 1 singles. In doubles Grazian, this time pairing with Holman at No. 1 doubles, won one match and lost another in a tiebreaker.

This week Coronado hosts Cathedral Tuesday and Thursday the Islanders host St. Augustine, with both matches set to start at 3 pm. 

CHS Track and Field Team Combines with La Salsa Restaurant for Fundraiser

One of the better and most tasty fundraisers held in recent years is back again as La Salsa Mexican Grill, located at 1360 Orange Avenue has combined with the CHS Track and Field Teams for an event to be held Thursday, April 30^th from 4-9:30 pm.

The concept is simple, take a copy of the special fundraising flyer, which can be downloaded from IslanderSportsFoundation.com, with you to La Salsa and 20 per cent of the net sales of your food order will go to the CHS Track and Field Teams. In addition, you can phone in your order ahead of time by calling 435-7778. Eating and donating at the same time is a wonderful concept.

Boys Volleyball Splits Two Matches

The Islander Boys Volleyball Team had two matches last week and split the pair. Wednesday they traveled to Clairemont, where they lost in four games, but won the second game by the score of 25-22.

Friday at home it was another matter all together as Coronado beat Crawford in three straight by the scores of 25-10, 25-12 and 25-23. According to Head Coach Adam Lockwood, the key to victory was the Islanders service game. “Cotter Stacey served well and probably served for 10 or 12 points in a row. He was our MVP of the match. We got a lot of the younger guys in the match, including Chris Allen, who played well. Jake Nicholson got to set and set a pretty good game for us. In the Clairemont game, we played and competed well as a team for the first two games. Individually, Chris Maskevich has come along and played pretty well.”

This week the Islanders play at home against Hoover Wednesday, with the match starting at 3:30 pm.

Boys Golf Plays Three Matches, Wins One

It was a strange week for the CHS Boys Golf Team, as they played three matches last week, posting a 1-2 record. But it was the way they did it that was interesting.

Monday they played Otay Ranch in a non-league match and lost 218-254 to a team they defeated handily a week ago. The Islanders were unable to field a complete team due to AP test prep and were penalized as they only had four players. Despite the loss, Alex Valle was the match medalist with a 41.

Tuesday Coronado hosted Crawford and fell to the Colts 205-208 at Coronado. Connor Pompa was the match co-medalist with a 39. Crawford, which is the beneficiary of having several of their players participate in a top-notch off-season golf program, defeated Coronado for the second time this year, with both of the scores being close.

The third match of the week really wasn’t much of a match as the Islanders dominated Madison 209-264. Valle won medalist honors with a 38.

Pompa and Valle both have made the case for being the team’s best golfer this season, depending on the stats you care to use. “They have gone back and forth,” said Head Coach Randy Coutts. “Eleven times Alex has been our top guy and Connor has been our medalist nine times. But Connor has a lower scoring average, 40.7 strokes per nine holes versus 41.5 strokes for Alex. Tuesday we play Mission Bay, so there is still golf to be played.”

Next week, is the City Conference qualifying match, where the team will play 18 holes per day, both Wednesday and Thursday at Balboa. “It’s back to work to get ready for the tournament season,” Coutts said. “Taylor Mitchell is becoming much more consistent, as has Brian Turley. Robert Phelps also has been real consistent and his game is more in control. I think we will have a good run next week. It’s a good group.”

Track Tidbits

Finally, we have a brief track report from Head Coach George Green. “The track team had a bye week, so we used that as an opportunity to get in some quality training. A few Islanders attended the Grizzly Invitational at Mission Hills Saturday. No one set a personal record, but all had decent marks.

Both Cassie Callahan and Maddie Danielson dipped under 50 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles, while Will Bartsch pole vaulted 11 feet, six inches. Sallie Privett and David Grimes ran the 800 meters in 2:22 and 2:05 respectively.”