Estancia winging way toward CIF

A record of 5-5 is modest for most. For Estancia, it is a sign of change.

How the change came about depends on who is asked and how much losing they’ve endured. For some it is the result of the bond born from losing together.

“We all know what it’s like to lose,” senior Kane Curran said of his first varsity season in 2005. “Going 3-21 wasn’t fun.”

Experience, even if it was only from losing games, had to amount to something, Tim Morley thought during 2005, his second varsity season.

“Let’s just end this and start fresh this year,” junior Tim Morley said of his mindset in 2005. “We knew we had most of our starters returning.”

Last season was not an aberration, it was a trend. Coach C.K Green knew this when he took over the team prior to this season. Green, who pitched and played shortstop for Estancia, had something in common with his players. In Green’s senior season in 2000, the team won nine games. He never reached the playoffs.

Turning Estancia around meant just as much to the coach as it did to the players. This is where Green always envisioned he would be.

Green predicted his team would be “competitive” in the Golden West League, shortly before the season started. Following the final out of the season opener, a 6-5 victory over JSerra, Green knew he had something different. The Eagles beat Corey Kohnke, who was 10-0 with a 2.65 earned-run average in 2005.

“I knew we had a chance after beating them,” Green said. “Their pitcher was throwing 90 mph. After that game, we went out to lunch and talked about how to make that happen more often.”

The Eagles have made it happen more often this season. Estancia’s five wins, in fact, are more than in any of the previous five seasons. And with seven- and eight-team leagues earning four automatic CIF Southern Section playoff berths, the Eagles, tied for fourth, have a legitimate chance to earn their first playoff bid in 14 years.

Green, citing three losses by a combined four runs, said his team is better than its record.

“I didn’t know they’d compete this well,” Green said. “It looks like a decent year. I just need to keep being patient.”

Patience is what the previous coach, Jon Green, had lost.

And he wasn’t the only one. “My freshman year [Jon Green] was pretty enthusiastic,” said Evan Van Geem, a four-year varsity starter. “Sophomore year, he just started putting players where he wanted. Junior year, he seemed like he didn’t care.”

As a recent graduate, C.K. Green understands the need to keep the team focused, by not slipping into a dull routine. Practice rotates between drills and scrimmages and the team uses the weight room twice a week.

“Practices are pretty much getting the work done while having a good time,” Green said. “There are only so many ways you can take ground balls, take fly balls and hit. I try to keep them entertained.”

Curran said the difference is evident.

“Last year, we did the same thing everyday,” he said. “This year is more fun than last year. Last year was more strict. It’s more fun at practices and at games now and it shows on the field.”

Morley, who went winless in league his first year on varsity, agreed.

“It was all work and no play,” Morley said. “[The previous coach] didn’t know how to balance it. There was a lot of negligent coaching. It made the season snowball. After three bad losing seasons, it had to change.”

Green knows eventually he has to change and mix discipline with the fun nature that has brought the team success. All is not rosy. Two of Estancia’s losses this season were by a combined 25-0 margin and the Eagles dropped a crucial league game to crosstown and league rival Costa Mesa, 3-1. It was a game Estancia thought it let slip away.