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