The Islander Girls Softball Team has been having a good spring and that continued last week as Coronado posted victories over the Academy of Our Lady of Peace and Hoover High School.

OLP was considered to be one of the pre-season favorites in the Central League race this season, but the Islanders completed the sweep of their two-game series by the score of 10-0 in five innings. Previously this season Coronado had defeated the Pilots 7-3.

According to Head Coach Tony Isabella, Bree Feist was the winning pitcher, with seven strikeouts on the mound and a nice 2-4 hitting performance at the plate. “They are a very good ballclub,” said Isabella of OLP. “Our hitting has been tremendous. The girls have learned to be aggressive at the plate and that has been the difference in a lot of our wins.”

Other players with multiple hit games included Anik Ribera who was 2-3 with two RBIs; Nicole Aguilar who was 3-3 and Jessica Adair who was 2-2 with a sacrifice and an RBI. “Everybody contributed to the victory,” Isabella said.

The Hoover game was another one-sided affair, to match the Islanders one-sided victory earlier this season.  This time Coronado won 25-0. There are 12 varsity players on the Islander roster, all 12 played and three of them pitched. Ribera and Kayla Englehart both pitched two innings and Alanna Pompa was on the mound for the final frame.

Currently Coronado is 10-3 and 8-1 in the Central League. Tuesday they host the only team to have beaten them in league, the Madison War Hawks, at 3 pm. Thursday the Islanders travel to Kearny for a 3 pm contest.

Girls Lacrosse Defeats Scripps Ranch 9-8

Last week we mentioned that Scripps Ranch High School had taken over as the new primary opponent for Coronado in the sport of Girls Lacrosse in the City Conference, seemingly usurping that role from long-time Islander rival La Jolla High. In the first meeting between the two teams Coronado prevailed by a single goal and last week that same result occurred, this time with an interesting twist.

 With the clock winding down in a see-saw affair, the Falcons went on a three-goal scoring run to take an 8-5 lead with six minutes left on the clock. Islander Head Coach Jessica Battle called a timeout to regroup the troops. “Basically, I was stressing the momentum that Scripps Ranch was on. Our draw controls (equivalent to a face-off in hockey) were huge. Kaitlyn Couture was 4-4 with draw controls.”

With possession of the ball came scoring opportunities. “We scored one goal and then we went on a roll,” Battle continued. “Afterwards I told the girls that it says a ton about your team when you are down three goals with six minutes left, and you come back and win the game. That’s pretty good.”

According to Battle the Islanders scored four straight goals, with tallies coming from Alex Reidy, Michaela Guerrera, Couture and the game-winner in the last seven seconds of play from Coco O’Brien. If Coronado is able to defeat the City Conference foes Cathedral Catholic, Serra and La Jolla, all of whom the Islanders defeated in their first swing through the schedule, then they will be conference champions. “If we keep our wits about ourselves and play the way we can play, hopefully we have sealed the title,” Battle said.

On the larger scale, the Islanders are still ranked second in San Diego County. Torrey Pines lost recently to La Costa Canyon, so the Mavericks are at the top of the ratings heap. Battle says the competition for the CIF title will be intense. “There are eight or nine teams that are neck and neck. If we stay focused, stay healthy and play the best game we can play, I truly believe we can win the whole thing.”

Islander Track Squads Compete With Hornets and Chieftains

George Green, head track and field coach at CHS, recounts the recent activities of his team. “In a tri-meet meet with Clairemont and Lincoln last Thursday, neither the Chieftains nor the Islanders had an answer for the Hornets' speed, so Lincoln came away with the wins in both the boys and girls match-ups. 

Most of our team was a bit flat due to a busy week of non-track related activities, but there were a few noteworthy performances and significant personal records. The best race of the day was between Islanders Maddy Danielson and Cassie Callahan in the 300-meter hurdles. Both were timed in 47.6, but Danielson hit the tape a couple of inches (if that) in front. There are only a dozen or so better times in the county so far this season. 

Callahan came back in the triple jump to win with an effort of 30 feet, 4 inches, with teammate Olivia Lillegraven placing second with a jump of 30 feet even.  Of the aforementioned Islanders, Danielson placed second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.6, with Lillegraven third in 17.8 and Callahan finishing fourth in 18.2.

The 3,200-meter run turned into a three-girl race with Clairemont's Michelle Read finishing first in 11:53.7, followed by Adie Davies and Meg Sweeney in 11:57.5 and 12:11.4 respectively.  Aryan Shay posted his two personal-best times, with a first place finish in the 1,600 meters in 4:42.6 and a second place finish in the 800 in 2:03.7.

In Saturday's county-wide Frosh/Soph meet at El Capitan High School, Lauren Bower ran 13.86 in the Sophomore 100 meters; Elise Urmanski finished fourth overall in the Freshman 400 meters with a nice time of 64.13, Nicole Davies picked-up the third place hardware in the Sophomore 800 meters with a personal best time of 2:24.72; and freshman Stavros Markakis,  put the 10-pound shot a respectable 38 feet 2 inches.

Finally in the Mercury USATF meet at Lincoln High School on Sunday, Sierra Smith cleared 5 feet, 4 inches in the high jump, just missing 5-5 when she knocked the bar off with her heels on the way down. What's significant about this performance is it would put her, along with teammate Abigail Callahan who has also cleared 5-4, among the elite of the San Diego High School high jumpers. That is if they were in high school. Both currently are in the 8th grade at Coronado Middle School.”

CHS Boys Golf Prepares for City Conference Tournament

For lack of a better term, last week’s matches served as a ‘tune-up’ for the Islander Boys Golf Team’s participation in the City Conference Tournament, which starts Tuesday. The week began with a 210-239 Coronado victory over Lincoln, which Islander Head Coach Randy Coutts said was a good match. The victory allowed Coronado to finish in second place in the Central League race behind Crawford.

Later in the week, to get ready for the post-season, Coronado played an 18-hole match at Sea and Air Golf Course with St. Augustine and Patrick Henry. Usually prep golf consists of six players playing nine holes each, with the five best scores counting toward the team scoring total. However, in prep playoff golf, the players play 18 holes, sometimes in match play (one player vs. another player) or normal team scoring.

To get ready for the playoffs the three teams played an 18-hole tournament. St. Augustine, which Coutts considers to be the best team in San Diego County currently, shot a 385. Patrick Henry High carded a 418 and Coronado shot a 421. “For the first nine holes, we shot a 200, which was our best score all year,” said Coutts.

The Islanders turned in some good scores, including a 78 from Alex Valle, and twin rounds of 79 coming from Brian Turley and Jake Schwartz. The Islanders are strong enough as a team to qualify all seven members of the squad for the City Conference event. The three players above will be joined by Jordan Oval, Nick Milburn, Nick Spear and Riley Peterson.

The City Conference Tournament also serves as a qualifier for CIF Match Play, with the top 32 players able to enter the tournament to be played at Torrey Pines. “Alex, Brian and Jake have a good chance to make match play,” Coutts added. “I think they will do fine when they get to the City Conference and then the CIFs. It won’t be a big shock to them.”

CHS Baseball’s Rebuilding Year Continues

With remarkable success in recent years, including a Western League title in 2008 and CIF titles in 2006 and 2008, the CHS Baseball Team has had a great run in recent years. The 2010 season, which was billed from the outset as a rebuilding year, has been just that. The team is currently 7-14 overall and 1-4 in the Western League. But that happens to smaller schools, especially when most of your varsity pitching staff graduates, joined by most of the starting lineup.

Last week the Islanders played four games and were in all four, but could only manage a 1-3 mark. The first game of the week was a 6-5 loss to Madison at home. The Islanders scored the first two runs of the game to jump out to the early lead. Zach Wheeler was hit by a pitch, Kyle Teachout singled him to second, Garrett Smerdon was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and then pitcher Jake Meloche singled in both Wheeler and Teachout.

The Islanders gave up one run in the third and five in the fourth inning to fall behind 6-2. In the seventh inning Coronado rallied for three runs. The rally included a single by Ryan Shepherd; Andrew Toomey reached on an error; a single by Austin Denson drove in Shepherd; and then Teachout’s fourth hit in four at bats followed, which drove in Toomey and Denson. But the rally ended there.

“We were battling, but just fell short,” said Head Coach Sam Ceci. “It seems if anything can go wrong it does, day after day. It’s incredible. I can’t remember a team that gets so few breaks or good bounces.”

The following day Coronado hosted Castle Park and came away with an 8-7 victory. Denson pitched 6.1 innings, and was relieved by Steve Preciado, who got touched up for three runs. However the Islanders rallied in the bottom of the seventh for three runs of their own, giving Preciado and the Islanders the victory.

Multi-hit games came from Hunter Ralph and Shepherd with two knocks each and Wheeler and Denson both had three hits each. Wheeler contributed three RBIs to lead Coronado in that department. “The kids never gave up,” Ceci said. “We hit the ball pretty well that day. We had 13 hits and we never get 13 hits.”

Saturday the Islanders matched up with Mar Vista for a doubleheader and Coronado came out on the short end of a 9-3 loss in the first game and a 10-9 defeat in the second.

The first game featured the varsity debut of freshman Justin Aden, who is up from the JV squad. Aden pitched 4.2 innings and yielded only two unearned runs in his appearance. The Islanders showed some defensive support for Aden, turning in two double plays behind him.

Wheeler is leading the Islanders with a .400 batting average, in runs scored with 20 and stolen bases with 11. Meloche has a record of 3-3, a fine ERA of 1.84 and has 41 strikeouts in 49.1 innings pitched.  

This week the Islanders play twice. Wednesday they travel to Mission Bay and Friday the Buccaneers come to Coronado. Both games are slated for 3 pm starts.

Boys Tennis Splits a Pair in Western League Play

Islander Boys Tennis gave as good as they got last week, starting off with a 16-2 victory over University City. All of Coronado’s three singles players got wins and the doubles teams were 9-0. The No. 1 doubles team of Luke Hoffman/Kyle Koshland nearly had a perfect day, winning 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0. No. 2 doubles Scott Samperio/Cody Webster won their sets 6-4, 6-2 and 6-2. The No. 3 doubles team of Chip Fisher/Shaun Koshland won 6-4, 6-3 and 7-6.

The singles players were led by No. 1 Greg Lyon, who laid a triple bagel on University City, winning all three of his sets at love. No. 2 singles Sean Lee came close, wining 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0. Court Dalton at No. 3 singles won one set at 6-0.

Then it was on to perennial power La Jolla, and the competition was considerably stiffer, with the Islanders falling 14-4. According to Head Coach Leslie Koshland, there were some bright spots. “Sean Lee won one set at 6-1 and Greg Lyon won two with scores of 6-3 and 6-4. Koshland/Fisher won one set at 6-2.”

This week the Islanders have two home matches. Tuesday they host Cathedral Catholic and Wednesday they have a return match with La Jolla. Both matches begin at 3 pm. “These are the last two matches of the regular season,” said Koshland. “Then the kids go into the Western League individual play tournament.”

The San Diego Chargers and the NFL Draft

Your Natterer worked for two NBA franchises, for a total of 12 years, in marketing, sales and broadcasting positions. In those days (the 1980’s and early 90’s) basketball at the professional level was struggling and was basically saved by the arrival of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

At league meetings, all of the marketing types would gather and trade ideas on how to try and get people in our often empty seats. We would also grouse about the growing popularity of the NFL and the beauty of having to market and sell only one game a week, while the NBA played four games most weeks. Major League Baseball and the NFL were basically in a dead heat for first place in the hearts and minds of sports fans at that time.

Speed forward several years and after last month, when the NFL publicity machine was in overdrive, and not one but two networks carried the important part of the NFL Draft in prime time, the NFL is without peer on the American sporting landscape. To paraphrase the great sports writer Dan Jenkins, ‘put out the fire, call in the dogs, the hunt is over.’

I enjoy football, pro more than college, a great deal. I root for two teams, the Chicago Bears and the San Diego Chargers. I follow what they do and the personnel moves they make. Fortunately the two teams are in opposite conferences and rarely play each other. They are not on each other’s schedule this year, and the Bears of recent vintage aren’t likely to be good enough to meet the Chargers in the post season.

Since I have access to a reasonably reliable computer, subscribe to The San Diego Union-Tribune and The Wall Street Journal, and watch too much ESPN, I was awash in pre and post-draft news. And predictions. And after-the-fact, team-by-team draft ratings. And local player features. And more NFL draft analysis than I could handle.

In the off chance that you spent the month of April under a rock, the Chargers and their General Manager A.J. Smith made a bold move and traded from the No. 28 slot in the first round, up to No. 12 to draft running back Ryan Mathews out of Fresno State. In San Diego the move was widely hailed, as Mathews was likened to future Hall of Famer and now former Charger LaDainian Tomlinson.

Outside of Southern California, media types were less receptive to the move, primarily because the Chargers gave up a second round draft pick (overall No. 40) and a switch of picks in the fourth round that cost them an additional 16 spots. ESPN.com’s pro football guru John Clayton placed the Chargers in the ‘losing’ category of the draft.

The odds of the any team drafting successive Hall of Fame running backs are extremely remote. Charger Head Coach Norv Turner placed Mathews in the same rarified air with Tomlinson and the NFL’s all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith, in his post-draft comments.

Yet another ESPN Analyst Todd McShay probably put it best. He questioned Mathews’ ability as a receiver out of the backfield and added that the former Bulldog running back had yet to display his value on the field. If those two points can be proven, then McShay thinks Mathews may be the steal of the 2010 draft class.

Draftniks are now collectively of the opinion that running backs are essentially interchangeable parts, with very short career expectations due to the physical pounding they take. Tomlinson had a great nine-year career in San Diego, but had clearly lost a step last year and his rushing statistics proved the point.

But as someone who saw the great Gale Sayers tote the pigskin for Kansas University and the Chicago Bears, as well as Tomlinson for the Chargers, watching the artistry and athleticism of a great running back in action is a thing of beauty. Here’s hoping that Mathews, when he is at the end of his career, is in the discussion when it comes to the greats of the game. That alone would make for a great draft.