Seemingly every spring the CHS Baseball Team has an offensive power outage. They are somewhat reminiscent of the ‘Hitless Wonder’ Chicago White Sox, who despite hitting .230 with only seven homers as a team for the season, won the 1906 World Series.

Through five games this spring, the Islanders are 4-1, but are hitting for a relatively puny .290 batting average. If the old Nike commercial is accurate and chicks in fact ‘dig the long ball,’ then we may have problems on that front as well. Coronado has seven doubles as a team to their credit, but no homers or triples in the first five games.

Three guys who are letting their bats speak loudly for them are Danny Cepin, Max Weinfurtner, and Michael Baker-Denson. Cepin is hitting a nifty .438 (7-16), Weinfurtner weighs in at .556 (10-18) and Baker-Denson has a very respectable .385 (5-13) batting average. It’s no accident that they are currently hitting 1-2-4 respectively in Head Coach Sam Ceci’s lineup. "We’re not hitting the ball," said Ceci channeling Martha Stewart, albeit briefly. "But we’ve won our share, so that’s a good thing.

Fielding a strong offense allows for more margin of error in baseball, but pitching and defense wins championships. Last week started with a 4-0 Islander loss at the hands of Westview High School Monday, which found Coronado able to crank out only four hits.

Wednesday the Islanders had only five hits against Otay Ranch, but won 3-0 behind a fine pitching effort from Baker-Denson who pitched a four-hit, complete game shutout. "He’s doing a good job for us," said Ceci of his senior right-hander. "He struck out one, had zero walks and threw the outside strike when he needed it. He always throws strikes and we can make the plays defensively behind him."

Friday senior right-hander Kevin Couture took his act to the mound and twirled another gem. His four-hit, complete game shutout allowed Coronado to defeat Mission Hills 2-0. For the season Couture has pitched a total of 15 innings, yielded six hits, no runs, and two walks, while striking out 24 opposing batters. "That was a good team that he beat," said Ceci of his USC-bound star. "He’s overpowering at this point. He has developed his changeup and it’s a killer pitch for him. He’s been working on it for a little more than a year and now he’s comfortable with it. He keeps guys more off balance and he can throw it for a strike. He’s really been competing well."

On the defensive side of the ball, Coronado is aided by senior centerfielder Max Weinfurtner’s athleticism, a theory that Ceci expanded upon. "Max can play anywhere on the field. He’s just that kind of athlete. Right now we’re a little deeper with infielders and a little lighter on outfielders. He goes back on the ball well. We’re just very confident and comfortable with him in center. Right now we have to go with the best defensive alignment we can have, which is him out in center and either Kyle Pokorny or Jake McMahon at second base."

Despite a strong 4-1 outing in the Bully’s Tournament, Coronado didn’t advance to the finals, losing out on a divisional tie-breaking formula to Mira Mesa and Patrick Henry. As a result the Islanders aren’t scheduled until Saturday, when they play a doubleheader at Mar Vista, with the game times slated for 10 am and 1 pm. Tuesday the team will attend the Point Loma Nazarene vs. Fisher College (Mass.) game for a change of pace. "That gives us a little more exposure as to what it takes to get to the next level," Ceci commented.

For the past three years, the Boys Lacrosse Teams from Coronado and St. Ignatius have played each other. Coronado won the first two games and this year the Islanders came (hold your thumb and forefinger in proximity to each other) this close to pulling out the third game, in a contest played at USD.

Trailing 11-10 with just seconds remaining in the game, senior midfielder Kelcey Fisher fought his way through the St. Ignatius defense and fired an underhand, backhand shot, which hit the goal’s right post. For Fisher, who has already excelled in the sports of football and soccer this year, it was still a great night as he scored five times for the Islanders. The other Coronado goals were scored by Pat Murphy with two tallies and single goals by Geoff Worley, Jack Christiansen, and Kyle Boatwright. Junior goalie Jake Benzian was credited with 20 saves.

"It was a great game," said Islander Head Coach Alex Cade. "It was two top teams against each other and it came down to inches in the last 5 seconds of the game. It definitely was a good first game for us. Nobody likes to lose and the kids were upset, which may be a good sign. But we threw the ball away a lot and didn’t capitalize on a lot of mistakes they made."

The first game aside, this may be ‘the’ year for the Islanders, as they feature a plethora of juniors and seniors in key roles. "We have almost everyone returning," said Cade. "Jake Benzian has stepped up and has done a nice job being a leader and doing the things we need from him. Kelcey is a great team leader as a senior. Will Purvis, another midfielder is a quiet leader who leads by example. Geoff Worley is an atttackman who is highly touted by many colleges. We have two defensemen in Chris Arthur and Kyle McArthur who are real good athletes. It’s a good team with a lot of kids who have played in the system for 4 or 5 years. We have some good experience all over the field now, so I expect some really good things from them."

Cade handicapped the other top teams in the area. Lacrosse unlike most other CIF sports, plays in only one division, so smaller schools like Coronado compete directly against some of the largest prep institutions in the county. "La Costa Canyon, Poway, and Torrey Pines are good and Rancho Bernardo has a nice team this year. They have a couple of players who will take them far. They have an attackman who is going to Notre Dame (Care to guess where Cade played his collegiate lacrosse?) who is a monster. Those are the top teams, along with us."

The 30-year-old Cade is professional lacrosse another try, as he was just drafted as a goalie by the San Francisco Dragons of Major League Lacrosse. The team, which plays their six-game home schedule in Kezar Stadium, starts their training camp April 29. "It’s going to be a lot of travel," said Cade. "It should be fun. I’m going to give it another shot, for as long as my body holds up."

CHS Girls Lacrosse Head Coach Jessica Battle and the Godmother of Coronado Lacrosse Joanie Huck were both inducted into the San Diego Chapter of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame Saturday evening. Battle, who still plays lacrosse competitively, was the hall’s youngest inductee.

The Islanders Girls Lacrosse Team got off to a fast start this season with a 10-3 victory over Francis Parker. This week the Islanders host Cathedral Catholic Wednesday and Serra Friday. Both games are slated for 7 pm face-offs. We’ll have a full Girls Lacrosse preview in next week’s "Nado Natterings."

CHS Head Track and Field Coach George Green checks in with this preview of his team. "The track team as a whole has been in training now for three weeks and there are nearly two weeks to go until our first dual meet March 30.

This year’s combined roster consists of 16 girls and 24 boys, about half of whom are returnees from last year. With the loss of three outstanding athletes, Jake Ruzevick, Adam Munns and Reid McLean to graduation, the Boys Team is in a rebuilding phase. The team’s main strengths come in the distance runs and the throws.

The bulk of our Central League championship cross country team, Ben Enowitz, Michael Davies, David Grimes, Andrew Falkiewicz, along with Kasey Zapatka from last year’s squad, give us good depth in the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter runs. In the throws, senior Levi Lozano is looking very good and has been helping coach a group of around nine throwers in the shot put and the discus throw.

We’re still evaluating our options in the sprints and jumps, with several newcomers appearing to have promise. Because the first meet is two weeks away, we’re still accepting new team members through the end of this week.

The strength of the Girls Team resides with a few all-around athletes, two of whom should be around for the CIF post season championships. Last year Sarah Player just missed a trip to the state meet because she tripped over a hurdle during the 300 meter hurdles at the CIF Finals. She is also one of San Diego’s best high jumpers and has the speed to compete in all of the sprint events ranging from 100 to 400 meters, as well as the 100 meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump.

Danielle Eckert’s main event is the pole vault, but since the vault is not contested in our league at dual meets, she’ll compete in other events. Like Sarah, Danielle has the speed and dexterity to excel in the sprints and all jumping events. Sarah and Danielle hold the school records in the 300 hurdles and the pole vault respectively, and are among the best in the county in these events.

Multi-sport athlete Megan Mushovic is a strong contender in the discus throw, the triple jump and the sprints. She will be a big part of this year’s team. Other top returnees from last season include Rebecca Waterman, Ashlee Houston, Neisha Scales, Allison Cabana, Gabrielle Isaza, and Christian Grant."

Offense has proven to be a challenge for the CHS Girls Softball Team in the early going, in a similar fashion to the CHS Baseball Team. Last week the Islanders lost to Christian 5-2 and offensively Coronado was held to a single, a triple and two RBIs from senior shortstop Farrell Pompa.

"She was our only offense," said Head Coach Ed Shanholtz of Pompa, last year’s team Co-MVP. "They had a pretty good pitcher, but we helped her out by swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. Alexis Wright pitched well enough to win, but we just made too many defensive mistakes. Three of their five runs were unearned. Our three outfielders Karli Massie, Christy Mebust and Jessica Davis-Ricci made some nice catches."

This week the Islanders take to the road for a Monday game at Escondido Charter at 3:30 pm and Thursday at Montgomery with the first pitch scheduled for 3 pm. Western League play will begin March 22 vs. Clairemont.