Shadowlands
Looking back, 5 years ago this week.
Tim DeCinces, a former Corona del Mar High baseball standout, is
selected in the 16th round by the Baltimore Orioles in Major League
Baseball’s amateur free-agent draft. DeCinces, son of former American
League All-Star third baseman, Doug, is the first CdM player to be
drafted since pitcher Neil Weber, who goes in the eighth round by the
Expos in 1993. “There are pictures of me as a little kid in an Orioles
uniform, screwing around in Memorial Stadium,” says Tim DeCinces, who
completes his redshirt junior year with UCLA before signing with the
Orioles.
CdM girls basketball coach Garth Flint announces that he will step
down from his post so that he can watch his daughter, Mollie, close out
her basketball career at St. Mary’s College. Flint leads the Sea Kings to
four trips to the CIF Southern Section playoffs during his seven-year
tenure, posting the school’s first postseason victories since the 1982-83
CIF championship team during the IV-AA playoffs in 1994-95. “I only got
to see between three and five games this year and I realized I had to do
something about that,” Flint says. “She had a real good year last year
and I just wanted to be able to follow her team next year.
CdM’s Brian Coleman, Derek Newcomer and John Coon, as well as Back Bay
brothers Wes Badorek and Cameron Black from Newport Harbor, share the
same side of the net in the Orange County All-Star boys volleyball match.
They play for the North as the South wins the fast-paced, three-game,
rally-scoring format, 18-21, 21-12, 21-17, at Newport Harbor’s gym.
“We’re all on the same (Balboa Bay) club team, so we’ve gotten to know
each other pretty well,” says Coleman, who has a match-high six kills.
Looking back, 10 years ago this week.
The athletes of the year ...
At Estancia High, the Male Athlete of the Year is Paul McDaniels. A
three-year starter and standout point guard in basketball for the state
champion Eagles. McDaniels plans to focus his efforts on baseball when he
continues his academic career at Golden West College the following year.
McDaniels, a catcher, led the baseball team in hitting (.384 and .389)
the previous two years.
The Female Athlete of the Year for Estancia is Nicole Oberreuter. A
two-year sport standout for four years in volleyball and track and field,
Oberreuter is bound for Princeton. In track and field, she places in the
shot put and discus her three varsity years at the Orange County
Championships. She wins the Pacific Coast League shot put title and is
runner-up in the discus during her senior year. She also finishes seventh
in each event in CIF 2-A.
Michael Hancock is the High School Athlete of the Year at Newport
Harbor. He is a three-sport standout who is the No. 1 runner on the cross
country team and shares goalie duties in soccer for the CIF co-champions
as a senior. He qualifies for the state track and field meet in the 800
with a personal best of 1:54.4. Hancock is planning a two-year Mormon
mission before settling on a college future.
Eva Mattson is the Sailors’ Female Athlete of the Year. After Newport,
she heads for UC Santa Barbara where she will continue her athletic
career in track and field. Mattson’s success begins as one of the key
members of the Sailors’ state championship team in cross country during
her sophomore year. She’s a two-miler, with a personal best of 11:20 in
the 3,200 with a grade point average of 3.5.
-- compiled by Steve Virgen
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