Under the direction of baseball coach Robert Galvan, the Hornets may be able swing things in a positive direction as soon as next year. In a school where football, basketball and track reign supreme, luring the cream of a deep talent pool of athletes, Galvan has the comfort of knowing he has a solid foundation for next year. At least on the offensive end.
Despite playing on a mediocre team, junior third baseman Collis Hunt won the CIF-SDS regular-season batting title with a.535 (46-for-86) mark. His teammate, junior middle infielder Walter Wells, hit .511 (45-for-88) with a section-best 35 steals.
Improvement has been gradual over the past three seasons at Lincoln. Even though a 6-19 standing in the Central League is less than eye-popping, it is a notch or two better than the 2009 club, which finished 6-21. It is a healthy gain over the 2008 ballclub that staggered to a 2-22 finish.
No doubt the biggest problems at Lincoln are a lack of pitching and a shaky defense. This year’s club showed marked improvement on the defensive end, but the pitchers continue to struggle with control and getting people out.
El Camino’s 'Cat gone wild
El Camino (Vista) senior outfielder Sammy Frost, who has compiled a career-record .434 batting average, has hit safely in 24 of the Wildcats' 27 games this season. He has generated seven games of three or more hits. In addition, he’s logged 12 multi-hit games.
In the field, Frost is a nugget. He’s handled 48 chances without an error and chipped in with four assists.
SOFTBALL: Falcons flash carries Torrey Pines
Senior shortstop Kristen Felicia of Torrey Pines was 8 for 11 with two doubles, two runs and three RBI in wins over San Pasqual, La Costa Canyon and Hilltop.
Felicia’s biggest hit was a two-run single in the fifth inning that broke a 1-1 tie and capped a three-run fifth inning as the top-seeded Falcons avoided Hilltop’s upset bid in the first round of the CIF-SDS playoffs.
Ricky Seale, Escondido
File photo by Kirt Winter
FOOTBALL: Escondido lands new coach
Good coaches always seem to find jobs. Over the course of one month, Jason Texler accepted two football coaching positions. Not simultaneously, mind you.
A highly successful head coach at El Cajon Valley in 2005 when he guided the Braves to their only CIF-SDS championship game, Texler agreed to take the coaching reins at Scripps Ranch earlier this month. When the Falcons were unable to provide Texler with a full-time teaching position, he began looking elsewhere.
Texler, 37, has found a new home at Escondido. It’s a perfect fit, considering the Cougars have an established football program and a teaching position in physical education. After serving as Helix’s offensive coordinator in 2009, Texler took a year off before resuming his search for a coaching job.
"Escondido is already a great football program, and I just have to come in there and keep the ball rolling," Texler told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
SWIMMING: Mavericks swimmer makes record splash
Senior Mikkel-Ane Stipe of La Costa Canyon won the 50-yard freestyle in a CIF-SDS girls swimming record time of 23.91 seconds, and followed by winning the 100 freestyle in 52.48, an automatic All-American time. Plus, she swam legs on the winning 200 medley relay (1:46.94) and 400 freestyle relay (3:32.17) teams, both of which posted automatic All-American times.
Other top performances
— Santee Santana senior centerfielder Cody Smith hit safely in 28 of the Sultans' 29 games to finish the regular season with a .462 (42-for-91) batting average. He scored 42 runs, clubbed seven homers and stole 15 bases.
— Santa Fe Christian sophomore southpaw Graham Gomez registered some impressive marks this season – 7-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 49 innings.
— La Costa Canyon sophomore Kendyl Stewart won the 100 butterfly in a CIF-record and automatic All-American time of 52.43, and she set a Division I record with an automatic All-American time of 54.89 in winning the 100 backstroke.
— West Hills softball senior second baseman Faith Koria equaled the Grossmont Conference record for stolen bases with 37, tying the mark established last season by Valhalla's Kaitlin McGinley.
— Lacrosse senior Kimi Fischer, at Westview, scored four goals in a 14-7 win over Carlsbad in the regular-season finale and five goals in a 12-4 win over Mt. Carmel in the first round of the CIF-SDS playoffs.
— Junior Ruby Harrison of Mt. Carmel won the optional all-around at the CIF-SDS gymnastics finals with a score of 37.125, finishing first on the balance beam (9.400) and the uneven bars (9.275).
— Oceanside senior Aaron Siliga and Rancho Bernardo junior Andrew Daniel shared the regular-season CIF-SDS home run lead with 13.
— West Hills (Santee) (26-2-1), the top-ranked softball team in the CIF-SDS, overcame a 2-1 deficit to clobber San Marcos 9-2 in the first round of the section playoffs. The Wolf Pack has won 22 of its last 23 starts.
Coming attractions
The softball finals of the CIF-SDS will be conducted on Saturday at UC San Diego. Here’s the championship lineup: Division IV at 10 a.m.; Division III at 12:30 p.m.; Division II at 3 p.m.; and Division I at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the section baseball playoffs begin this week with the play-in round on Tuesday. Winners from that set advance to the eight-team four-division double-elimination format. Survivors from that bracket will vie for the four division championships on June 5 at San Diego State’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Dickens dealings
CIF rule changes seem to be subtle. Oh sure, coaches get a notice via a lengthy preseason memo that notes what’s OK and what's not. These usually ticky-tack changes are included in the fine print.
Unfortunately, few of these coaches, many of who are off-campus mentors, take time to scan the CIF e-mail. That’s where the problems start.
Case in point is tryout requests by Major League Baseball scouts during the course of the high school season. A year ago, what the CIF-SDS termed illegal was a tryout involving five players on an "off day" during the season. Those players and teams participating in such activity faced CIF-SDS sanctions usually resulting in forfeits of some degree.
The CIF-SDS has since tightened up that rule stating that no "in-season" tryouts or "workouts" – regardless of the number of players involved – requested by the Major League Baseball clubs will be allowed. Yet, pro scouts continue to sneak around, baiting players to work out on their own without the consent of their high school coaches.
"What could I say?" said Rancho Buena Vista senior Tony Wolters, who was asked and did participate in a one-man workout with the Toronto Blue Jays. That session, which was leaked to the CIF-SDS authorities by the father of one of Wolters’ Longhorns teammates, caused last summer’s Aflac MVP to miss the final week of the regular season.
Wolters’ eligibility rests with the CIF state officials. Given that his case is one of about 100 known infractions in the state this season gives him a chance to gain a stay from the hierarchy. Although nothing is concrete, the state kingpin in Sacramento has hinted that she will give a one-year hiatus due to the confusion of the original rule.
Given the confusion of the rule exchange, that would be the right thing to do. On the flip side, MLB scouts who ask unknowing players to field a few grounders and take a few cuts in the cage with a wooden bat, should be fined to the max.
