Advertisement

CdM softball celebrates long-awaited winning season

Share

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Corona del Mar High softball players, coaches, and their families got together on Wednesday night to celebrate a season that acted as a uniting force for all involved.

After posting an overall record of 14-13 (4-6 in league), the Sea Kings came away with their first winning season since Nicole Thompson’s final year as the coach at CdM.

Nothing had been stable since then, especially the coaching situation. Corona del Mar had cycled through six head coaches in nine years, including a tandem in Jerry Jelnick and Glen Mathiason in 2011.

Advertisement

CdM Softball Coaches Since 2006

Laura Mayberry, 2007-2008 (Record: 17-31, 9-11)

John Felicetti, 2009-2010 (Record: 9-39, 0-18)

Jerry Jelnick/Glen Mathiason, 2011 (Record: 7-21, 0-10)

Kiki Munoz, 2012-2013 (Record: 10-37-1, 0-19-1)

Carly Smith, 2014-2016 (Record: 16-55, 0-30)

Following Laura Mayberry’s departure after the 2008 campaign, the Sea Kings did not win a league game again until this season.

All of the seniors spoke before those assembled at the Rancho Capistrano Winery. A common thread among the speeches was the impact of first-year head coach Jordann Wakabayashi, whom they unanimously agree made the game fun again.

Raine Finley had walked away from the game after playing her first two years of high school. Wakabayashi begged her to come back, and Finley is glad she agreed to do so.

“Coach Jo was always wanting us to try new things,” Finley said. “Even if we struck out or did something that we did not want, she would always be like, ‘Come on now. We’ve got it. Bounce back.’

“I only played two years prior to this, but…it added such a happy note to my softball career.”

Lauren Oberreiter, a longtime catcher for the team, will attend USC in the fall. As the load of her classes and other extracurricular activities got bigger, she also contemplated leaving the field behind.

“It was definitely hard to still see a love for the game,” Oberreiter said. “I’m involved in a ton of extracurriculars, so I really wanted to quit. I was like, ‘I’m done. I don’t need to be spending three hours every single day playing a sport that I’m not having fun in,’ but because of Coach Jo, I was like, ‘I’m going to do it.’”

Some of the players just needed a little convincing to return. Nevertheless, they were stunned when word spread of a girl who arrived on the scene boasting that the team would not only win games, but league contests and even CIF itself.

That was Kira Delgadillo, who transferred in from Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos this year.

“I wasn’t even at that practice, but like three different people told me that this new girl is here, and she’s saying that we’re going to win CIF and league games,” Brooke Franson said. “I was like, ‘She’s crazy.’”

Like Oberreiter, Franson played a full four seasons with the Sea Kings. The first team all-Pacific Coast League shortstop, like many others, had been reacting based off the program’s well-documented struggles.

In this case, ignorance was bliss.

“I didn’t know any of the past, whatsoever,” Delgadillo said. “I was just coming in trying to be the positive player to try to bring everybody up instead of being negative.

“I just wanted to be positive just to be one of the leaders on the team and help the younger girls believe.”

It was a tough message to sell, but following a 7-6 win over Beckman in the league opener, a new confidence emerged. Corona del Mar earned a league sweep of University. The Sea Kings also beat league champion Woodbridge on the road at Bill Barber Park.

Wakabayashi and Delgadillo, the newcomers of the group, had helped bring about a transformation. It was a change in attitude that had the Sea Kings believing that they could play with anyone.

Entering the season, Wakabayashi had a series of ambitious goals for the team to shoot for – win seven games by the halfway point of the season and 10 overall; sweep a league series; bring the fun back to the game. Each one was accomplished, with Wakabayashi thanking the seniors with an email later in the evening.

“We could all tell that you guys were playing this season knowing that it would be the last for most of you,” Wakabayashi said to her four seniors. “You guys were persistent, goal-oriented, and scrappy, and that’s what made you so dangerous.

“We did not face a single team this year that you guys didn’t think you could beat. There was a fresh energy at the field this year, and I knew that I could count on you guys to lead the charge. We were never down and out because you guys kept the team going.”

Franson was named the team MVP. Oberreiter earned Defensive Player of the Year after turning in an unblemished 1.000 fielding percentage.

Mallory McCrane took home Offensive Player of the Year honors, and Sophia Rhee received the Most Improved Award.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner

Advertisement