PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE
Corona del Mar
Coach: Terry Cristiano
1999 record: None
League record: None
Corona del Mar hasn’t fielded a team in three years, but Terry Cristiano is optimistic nonetheless. He has coached for 27 years but never in high school. He had 15 players come out for this year’s team--and eight are freshmen. He said his team’s main strength may be its all-freshman outfield of Lauren Jacobson, Megan Curry and Melanie Cole. Cristiano’s oldest player is Mijanou Pham, a junior who, along with freshman Alissa Zoelle, will be a mainstay in the circle.
Costa Mesa
Coach: Sharon Uhl
1999 record: 5-20
League record: 1-9
Sharon Uhl, who coached for six years at Estancia, sees her first Costa Mesa squad making a significant improvement over last year’s team. Expected to go toe-to-toe with league favorites University and Northwood are seven returning starters--all but one of them a senior. Shortstop Kelly Daub, a first-team all-league selection last year, leads a solid group of returning seniors that includes Katie Chapman (first base), Lacey Ferris (center field), Michelle Nguyen (third base), Brooke Shanley (pitcher) and Nicole Spunaugle (second base).
Estancia
Coach: Jenny Hart
1999 record: 14-8
League record: 6-4
Jenny Hart, a first-year coach, knows she has enough talent on her team to get the job done, but also knows that it will take a while to sort it all out. Hart has a solid group of returning starters, anchored by Stephanie Cachola at shortstop and Deborah Wyman in the pitching circle. Estancia is strong defensively and at catcher, where Cachola can also play, but Hart is still unsure about her team’s abilities at the plate. Returning starters Lauren Cassity (outfield), Helen Flores (third base) and Sarah Chaisson (second base) are all seniors and will be counted on to help produce on an otherwise young team.
Laguna Beach
Coach: Mike Roche
1999 record: 5-17
League record: 1-9
Five starters return, and so does Coach Mike Roche (23rd year, 115-218), who was away from the program the last three seasons. His team is still a tad inexperienced. Krista Davidson, Audrey McKay, Heather O’Malley, Toni Spangler and Martine Speare all return from last year’s team and could form a nucleus to challenge for a playoff spot. Four key players have been moved up to the varsity: catcher Kelsey Offield, infielder Cassie Jones, outfielder Kell Berson and shortstop/third baseman Amber Clark.
Northwood
Coach: Lori Peterson
1999 record: None
League record: None
Many coaches around the league expect Northwood’s first-year program to do well this season, and Lori Peterson is one of them. Her team has five core players--freshmen Allison Lewis, Melissa Ota, Amanda Garza and Teresa Leyden and sophomore Allyson Pizula--who have played club softball together for the past four years. That leaves Peterson with the chore of developing chemistry while learning the Timberwolves’ strengths and weaknesses as the season wears on. Pizula played shortstop for Irvine last year. Sophomores Leslie Curtis (from Mission Viejo) and Lindsey Marino (from Irvine) round out the group of talented newcomers.
University
Coach: Monica Colunga
1999 record: 6-19-2
League record: 4-6
With four returning starters, the Trojans have a solid nucleus and will look to play fundamentally sound softball while developing team chemistry. Monica Colunga, in her first season, will build around senior pitcher Tiffany Waldman, junior catcher Kelli Watkins, junior first baseman Stephanie Fitch and sophomore shortstop Jenny Jones.