Spring Break roughly halved Coronado High School’s sports calendar last week, which has two unintended consequences. First, it will put a dent in the size of this week’s Natterings column, although a riff on the San Diego Padres at the end will insure the reader that you will have plenty of verbiage to fight your way through.

Second, all of the Islander spring sports are back in full swing this week, as the regular season has roughly three weeks remaining. Generally speaking, the spring sports playoffs conclude at the end of May.

Islander Girls Softball Squad Wins Three Straight

Last week two Islander varsity coaches went into battle against their alma maters. As part of their three-game schedule last week, Head Coach Tony Isabella took the Islanders to Lincoln High School, his alma mater, where Coronado defeated the Hornets 11-1.

The week started with a Central League contest against San Diego High School, which the Islanders won 6-1. Pitcher Lakota Abdalla-Kane took the mound for Coronado and yielded only four hits, while striking out five. “Lakota’s pitching performance helped set the tone for the week,” said Isabella.

In order to instill more offense in softball, a rule change was passed that went into effect this season, which moved the pitching rubber back from 40 feet to 43 feet from home plate. When asked about the net impact from the rule change after the Islanders had played a dozen games, Isabella said, “There have been more hits. The bat gets put on the ball more often, but there are still the same number of strikeouts.”

Offensively against the Cavers, Olivia Nebo was 2-4 with two runs scored, one RBI and a triple. Nicole Aguilar was 2-3 with two RBIs and one run scored.

Wednesday the Islanders trundled off to Mountain Empire where they defeated the Red Hawks 15-6. Abdalla-Kane had similar stats to those compiled in the San Diego game, yielding seven hits, while striking out eight. Coronado had their hitting shoes on and pounded out 17 hits.

Kayla Englehart was 4-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Abdalla-Kane helped her cause by going 2-5 with two runs scored. Jodi Adair was also 2-5, while scoring twice.

In the aforementioned Lincoln game, which was the final contest of the week, Englehart took the mound for five innings and compiled six strikeouts to earn the win. Freshman Dalen Dull pitching in her varsity debut, completed the game by pitching the final two innings and had four strikeouts.

Dull joined junior Alexis Morabito and freshman Madison Montague as call-ups from JV for spring break duty on the varsity. “We received defensive and offensive help from Madison,” said Isabella. “She played very solid defense at second base and pinch ran for our pitchers. She’s a leader on the field. Alexis also helped with her contribution to the team. She filled in and did a very nice job.”

Also from the department of ‘Helping Their Own Cause,’ Englehart was 3-4 with two runs scored, three RBIs and two doubles in the Lincoln game. Lauren Curtis was 3-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Laura Williams was 1-2 with one run scored and one RBI.

This week the Islanders host a Tuesday game with Kearny. The last time the two clubs played, the Islanders won 10-9. Thursday Coronado travels to Crawford. The first pitch for both games is scheduled for 3 pm.

Coronado Boys Lax Goes 2-1 on East Coast Trip

Continuing our coaching homecoming theme, CHS Boys Lacrosse Head Coach Alex Cade and his team played at Cade’s alma mater Landon High School last week, but had to travel to the East Coast and the state of Maryland to accomplish that feat. Also the hosts weren’t very hospitable, at least on the field as they defeated the Islanders 9-5.

“They’re ranked nationally,” said Cade of Landon High School. “We had the lead 3-1 at halftime. If you hit a pipe (the goal) and miss a groundball, the good teams will take advantage of any mistake. The good teams make you finish. Our kids did some very good things in the game, but the game exposed some weaknesses we need to keep working on.”

After their initial game, the team did some sightseeing and visited Ben’s Chili Bowl, which has become a tradition during the East Coast trips. Cade related the tale of a prodigious eating accomplishment turned in by sophomore Jack Perkins. “At Ben’s Chili they have a half smoke, which is a combination beef and pork hot dog. It’s a huge spicy hot dog that comes with chili and cheese that the kids just love. Jack ate two chili cheese half smokes, two orders of chili cheese fries, a chili cheeseburger and a milk shake. Two hours later he was eating pizza. He’s an eating machine.”

Part of the trip included a retreat to a cabin that Cade’s parents own in Pennsylvania, set on 120 acres in the middle of the woods. “Having the kids out there for that experience is awesome,” Cade said. “The nature is great and we did some team building, have a big bonfire and did all kinds of things that are pretty cool. We had some practices at an academy which has their field in the middle of the mountains. We had some of our best practices of the season there. We went to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, which has significance in the Civil War. We ran into some weather, but it didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits at all.”

Games two and three on the trip both occurred Wednesday at Wooton High School. First Coronado defeated Marriott’s Ridge 14-4 and later in the day the Islanders defeated Wooton 13-9. Cade discussed several players’ contributions to the trip. “Sergio Flores had a great trip and has established himself as a very good midfielder. He has taken a big leap so far and is really emerging as a strong player and a leader.

Our long stick midfielders Paul Rodriguez and Nicolas Robles went against some good competition and played well. Offensively Perkins stood out and had some nice goals. He was fed by attacks Alex Bookout and Kyle Runyon. They are coming together as a unit. We’re running four attacks, which includes Bobby Ferrar, so they can stay fresh throughout the game. They are doing a good job.”

On the defensive end of the field the Islanders played well also, according to Cade. “Overall defensively we had a good trip. We were able to play a lot of guys who will help us down the stretch. The caliber of teams and the caliber of coaching forces you to change things that teams out here don’t always see. Reis Stanley had a great game against Landon in goal.”

All of this leaves Coronado with an overall record of 11-2 and they remain atop the Westsidelax.com California state rankings, with St. Ignatius High School ranked No. 2 in the state. The Islanders host La Jolla Thursday evening at 7 pm. Saturday Coronado heads to Santa Barbara to face St. Ignatius for a game to be played at UCSB. “Their schedule is packed and so is ours,” said Cade of the contest which the two teams have played annually. “This has been a travel season for sure, but it will be cool.”

But between now and Thursday, Cade and the coaching staff will get to work on the fine points of their club’s game that cropped up on their trip east. “It’s exciting at this time of the year to have so much to work on. As coaches we can work on the weaknesses instead of the same old things in practice. I’m excited for the practice time and I can’t wait to see where this team ends up.”

CHS Girls Lacrosse Loses to St. Ignatius

Before I get to the Girls Lacrosse side of things, allow me to reflect on the absurdity of having the Coronado lacrosse teams, which currently are two of the best teams in the state, play in the CIF San Diego Section Division II playoffs. It’s due to school size and not playing ability, but the concept is still ridiculous.

And now it’s time to return to our regularly scheduled programming. Last week during spring break, the Islander Girls Lacrosse Team hosted St. Ignatius and no, this is not a typo. The Boys teams from Coronado and St. Ignatius are ranked 1-2 in the state in that order and the Girls teams are also 1-2.

The Islanders were missing two starting defenders and three other players were injured and not available. “They are such a fast team,” said Head Coach Jessica Battle of St. Ignatius. “And early in the game, we couldn’t score a goal.” The Islanders trailed 6-3 at the half and wound up losing by the score of 11-8.

Battle pointed to the inspired play of senior Kaitlyn Couture, who scored four of Coronado’s eight goals. Alex Reidy scored twice while Martha Byrne and Michaela Guerrera both scored single goals.

The loss to St. Ignatius flipped the ranking spots for both and now the Islanders are No. 2 in the state of California. However, Coronado’s schedule picks up Tuesday with a tough game at Scripps Ranch and follows with a home game Thursday at 3:30 pm against Holy Cross of Maryland, which wait for it, is a homecoming of sorts for Coach Battle. “They’re going to be really tough. That’s a team I used to play when I was in high school.” Friday evening at 5:30 pm, Coronado travels to La Jolla to play the Vikings for their third game of the week.

Islander Track and Field Report

CHS Head Track and Field Coach George Green checks in with news regarding his team, including a unique run by Meg Sweeney in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. “There's not too much to cover on the track scene from last week, as there wasn't a dual meet because of spring break. 

A handful of Islanders did compete as unattached athletes at the UCSD Triton Invitational last Saturday against college athletes. Nicole Davies had a nice double, with a time of 4:56.21 in the 1,500 meters and 2:19.12 in the 800-meter run. Her 1,500-meter time equates to around 5:16.5 for the 1,600 meters (the metric mile) and around 5:18.5 for the mile. Both of these efforts were personal best times for Davies. 

Abigail Callahan cleared 5 feet, 2 inches in the high jump. Maddy Hopson spanned 15-9 in the long jump, despite taking off a foot behind the board on her best jump. Cassie Callahan, stepped off to a time of 1:10.73 in the 400-meter hurdles. High school’s longest hurdle distance is 300 meters, so going the college distance of 400 meters was a bit of a stretch, but she handled it well. 

The runner most out of her comfort zone was Meg Sweeney who entered the 3,000-meter steeplechase. This is a grueling event that requires a runner to cover around 7.5 laps, jump over 28, 30-inch tall barriers that can’t fall over and negotiate a water jump seven times. The water jump consists of a 30-inch barrier in front of a sloping pit filled with water. The water is a little over two feet deep immediately behind the barrier and slopes up to the track surface 12 feet beyond.

The very best male runners will leap off the top of the barrier and get only one foot wet. Most runners get quite wet, especially females, because the barrier is 6 inches lower and they can't leap as far as the men. In Meg's case she had never jumped over a water jump before so her technique was to climb up on the barrier then jump off. This lost her around 10 meters per lap to the other competitors, but even so she finished third out the six finishers, only 14 seconds behind the winner and four seconds behind the second place finisher with a time of 12:04.25.  With a bit of water jumping training she would have won going away.”

Islanders Find Tough Sledding in Lions Club Tournament

Last week the CHS Baseball Team competed in the Premier Division of Annual Lions Club Tournament and played their first three games at home. Monday Rocklin of Sacramento came to town and left with an 11-2 victory over Coronado.

In a bit of a baseball scoring oddity, Jake Meloche started the game on the mound and retired the first two hitters he faced. The third Rocklin hitter hit an infield grounder and Meloche and third baseman Kyle Teachout collided with the Rocklin batter reaching first base.  Meloche left the game with an injury and wound up being the losing pitcher when the Rocklin hitter eventually scored and gave the visitors a lead they never lost.

Teachout went on to have two of Coronado’s seven hits and scored once. Parker Elkins scored the other Islander run.

The second game played Tuesday was an 11-0 loss to eventual Premier Division champion Marina High School from Huntington Beach. The Islander offense could muster only two hits in the contest, with Jack Mikesell and Robbie Weissenfels supplying one hit each.

Wednesday Carlsbad was the opponent and it was a more competitive game according to Head Coach Sam Ceci. “Carlsbad was doable, but we spotted them four runs before we battled back. We lost 6-5. The pitching has been good enough to win, but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot on defense.”

Mikesell had two hits, scored twice and contributed an RBI. The other Islander two-hit game was turned in by shortstop Andrew Toomey. Tyler Brownell, Austin Denson and Freddy Schlichtholz all scored in the contest. On the mound, Luke Gillingham yielded three earned runs in six innings.

In the divisional consolation game, Coronado traveled to Otay Ranch and came up a run short in another 6-5 loss. “We should have won the game at Otay Ranch,” said Ceci. “We tied them three times and they won it in the bottom of the eighth inning.”

Gillingham was 3-4 against Otay Ranch and scored twice. Mikesell had two more hits and scored once, while Toomey was 2-4 with a run scored. Meloche returned to the mound after his collision earlier in the week and yielded only one run in three innings. Henry Green, Denson and Schlichtholz all pitched for Coronado.

Ceci discussed some of the philosophy behind Coronado’s participation in the event. “The closest school to us in our division in terms of enrollment was 1,800 (Coronado’s enrollment is 1,100), so I can justify the results in those kinds of terms. We brought up 10 players from the JV for the tournament and they got to play, especially in the first two games when we were getting killed. This week we need to give the guys some playing time and get them back on track.”

Coronado returns to Western League play Monday with a trip to University City and Tuesday they host the Centurions. Both of those games begin at 3 pm. Saturday the Islanders (9-12 overall, 1-3 in the Western League) face Madison High School at PETCO Park for a 4 pm game. “The next six games we play teams comparable to us,” Ceci added. “I’m hoping we can turn it around.”

Green and Maack Ink National Letters of Intent

CHS seniors and good friends Hannah Green and Lauren Maack got together recently at Green’s home and signed their National Letters of Intent for their respective sports this fall. Green will matriculate to USC to play water polo, while Maack will stay a little closer to home and play lacrosse at San Diego State. Congratulations to both athletes.

Padres Offense Lacking Early in the Season

As a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs franchise, I feel ably qualified to reflect on the status of mediocre professional baseball teams. Actually the more I think about it, I’m over-qualified.

So a strange confluence happened early last week when the Cubs and Padres played a three-game series in the cold and rainy conditions on the North Side of Chicago. In the three games, which totaled 30 innings of play, the Cubs outscored the Padres in aggregate by a total of one run, 7-6. However, the home-standing Cubs won two of the three games. The bad news is that the Padres returned home and lost four straight to the Phillies and San Diego suddenly was staring at a 1-6 week.

Entering play Monday against Atlanta, the Padres pitching staff had the best earned run average in the National League at 2.95 runs per game. Conversely, the team’s .212 batting average was the league’s worst. And that will earn you an 8-14 record in a hurry.

In Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Philadelphia, the top third of the Padre batting order which included Cameron Maybin, Josh Bartlett and Chase Headley had mostly respectable batting averages in the mid to low .200’s. Then the next three Padres in the batting order include Ryan Ludwick (.184), Will Venable (.177) and Brad Hawpe (.098) have batting averages that frankly shouldn’t permit them to be in the starting lineup north of AAA ball. Only regular starting catcher Nick Hundley (.304) has posted offensive numbers through the first one-sixth of the season that are above average. 

And this should come as a surprise to absolutely no one who follows baseball. Competitive baseball rosters can’t be consistently assembled on the cheap and the Padres spent the offseason acquiring and signing players either known for their gloves (shortstop Bartlett and second baseman Orlando Hudson) or who had recently had poor offensive seasons and were a considered gamble (Hawpe, plus utility player Eric Peterson who is hitting .053). As an aside, Bartlett is such a fine fielder at shortstop that he alone may be worth the price of admission.

Hometown product and former Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez has moved on to greener and considerably more financially productive pastures in Boston, where he signed a seven-year, $154 million dollar contract extension. Obviously the Padre’s, who have a $45.45 million this season, can’t afford to spend $22 million in one year on one player. However, fielding a lineup as anemic as San Diego’s will eventually hit the Padres in the wallet, when fans vote with their feet and stay away from PETCO Park in droves.

Should the Padres spend some money up front with the prospect of fielding a competitive team, or lose it on the back end when the team isn’t worth watching and is out of the National League West pennant race by early August? Personally I’d rather see a competitive team. There has to be a midpoint where payroll and competitiveness make sense for the Padres. This year they have opted to continue to pursue a penurious on-field personnel philosophy.