Coronado Youngsters to Get Bit of Winter This Summer

Most water polo players, it would stand to reason, look forward to summer like a college basketball junky looks forward to March.

In three months, however, a group of 15 water polo players from Coronado High will be giving up part of their summer by traveling to winter. They, as the nucleus of Coronado’s team next season, have been invited to play in the Pan Pacific Youth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, from July 2-12.

After that, they will spend another 10 days in Australia working out and staying with various Aussie clubs that have come to Coronado in recent years.

“The kids are really looking forward to the experience, not just the water polo,” Coronado Coach Randy Burgess said. “And I’m interested in seeing how well this team comes together. We’ll be an extremely young team next season.”

As evidence, Coronado will be entered concurrently in both the 15-and-under and 17-and-under age divisions in the Pan Pacific tournament.

“This is the second year in a row we will have lost nine seniors, and we’ll only have two next year,” said Burgess, whose teams have won five consecutive San Diego Section championships.

Because they will be staying with other families abroad, the 22-day trip should only cost about $1,800 per person, and the players are hoping to raise the money with fund-raisers and community support.

“We’ve raised about $500 per kid so far, and we have a few other things on the burner,” said Burgess, who added that the Hotel del Coronado and the Optimist Club have been instrumental in aiding the project.

As far as skipping part of the summer here, Burgess said: “My dermatologist will be happy. He says I spend too much time in the sun as it is.”

Comeback: Imagine the pain. You’re running wind sprints at baseball practice and someone accidentally steps on the back of your ankle. Full speed. With spikes.

It can happen. It did happen, to San Pasqual’s Mike Corns last year. The result was a severed Achilles tendon.

“For some guys, this is a career-ending injury,” San Pasqual Coach Bill McAllister said.

Corns was fortunate. His injury healed, he is back pitching for the Eagles this spring.

Though his record is 0-2, Corns has pitched well and has struck out 21 batters in 19 innings for San Pasqual (1-4-2).

Said McAllister: “The fact that he’s even pitching at all this year is a minor miracle.”

Walk him: Corns might have picked up his first victory of the season Friday had it not been for Orange Glen’s Steve Rohlmeier. As it was, the game was called because of darkness after eight innings with the score 6-6.

Corns struck out six batters and gave up four hits in the first five innings.

Two of those hits were home runs by Rohlmeier, who drove in all six Patriot runs.

He had a grand slam to left in the third inning and a two-run homer to center in the fifth.

Go away: Rain and subsequent wet playing fields have played havoc with baseball, softball, track and tennis schedules this spring, not to mention statisticians.

Aaron Blair of USDHS had a nice afternoon going when rain caused the cancellation of the Dons’ City Conference Peninsula Bank Baseball Tournament game against St. Augustine in the third inning on Thursday. Blair had a single in the first inning and a 420-foot home run to center in the third.

The Dons and Saints will replay the game Wednesday, erasing all statistics from Thursday’s start.

Wild one: Whether it was the light drizzle or not, here’s a recap of that St. Augustine-USDHS game. It was one of those bad news/good news outings for Dons’ left-hander Kevin McDonald.

Dom Giammarinaro led off the Saints’ half of the first with a single up the middle, then was picked off by McDonald. No. 2 batter Eric Miranda reached safely on an error by McDonald but was promptly picked off by McDonald.

McDonald then struck out Craig DaLuz, but DaLuz reached first on a wild pitch to the backstop. DaLuz went to second on another wild pitch and scored on a single to left by Memo Lopez. McDonald struck out John Mozerka to end the inning.

McDonald added three more strikeouts in the second and another pickoff in the third for the only other outs before the game was called.

Keeping up with the Joneses: As of last week, a Jones was leading the county in batting average, home runs, runs batted in and stolen bases.

Matt Jones, a senior pitcher/third baseman from Grossmont, held the top spot in the first three categories, with a .583 average, three homers and nine RBIs.

Marcel Jones, a senior from Kearny, led in stolen bases with nine swipes, and he picked up two more last week.

Marcel Jones, normally an outfielder, offers more than speed. He has been catching the past few games because of an injury to the Komets’ regular catcher.

Asked if Marcel has ever caught before, Kearny Coach Dale Twombley replied: “Maybe in Little League.”