Sea King has refined his game

Corona del Mar High baseball coach John Emme knew if his team was going to recapture the Pacific Coast League, its defense would have to improve.

The Sea Kings struggled in the field last season, making 83 errors in 28 games as Tesoro claimed the league title. This season, 22 games in, the Sea Kings have made just 35 errors.

Not coincidentally, the Sea Kings can clinch at least a share of the league with a victory over University today.

Last year, shortstop Jake Lemmerman was in the middle of a subpar defense. This year, the junior is leading the defensive turnaround.

“Last year he struggled with the glove,” Emme said. “But he’s worked a lot on his fielding and he’s made only two errors this season.”

Lemmerman said that after last season, he wanted to get better and was willing to put in the work.

“I worked on my fielding all summer,” Lemmerman said. “I took a lot of ground balls. Sometimes I worked with no glove and did footwork drills to improve my range.”

Lemmerman’s defensive improvement has been so immense, he’s quickly climbed the ladder to the No. 2 spot all-time, according to Emme.

“Only one guy here has played infield better ? (2004 graduate) Jeritt Thayer,” Emme said. “Jake played second base in 2004 when Jeritt played shortstop. He’s taking it as a personal challenge to be as good defensively as Jeritt was.”

Lemmerman remembers Thayer fondly from that 2004 team that captured the school’s last CIF Southern Section title.

“He had the best fielding hands I’ve seen in high school,” Lemmerman said. “He only made three or four errors his senior year.”

Lemmerman led the way for the Sea Kings last week in a sweep of defending league champion Tesoro. Not only was Lemmerman sharp on defense, but he scored the winning run in both games.

The junior went three for four and scored the game-winning run in Corona del Mar’s 2-1 victory over Tesoro on April 26. He also walked and scored the game-winning run on Andrew Williamson’s single in the seventh inning of the Sea Kings’ 3-2 win over Tesoro two days later.

Going into today’s game against University, Lemmerman is batting .452 with four home runs and 25 RBIs this season. He boasts an on-base percentage of .529 and a slugging average of .726. He leads the team with 33 hits and 28 runs.

Lemmerman said that improved mental and physical strength has helped him achieve such numbers.

“Having an idea of what the pitcher is coming with and knowing the situation,” he says. “And building up strength through lifting weights.”

He’s also gone from a dead-pull hitter to one who uses the whole field.

“I’ve been working on keeping my hands inside the ball and driving the ball to right field,” Lemmerman said.

“He’s taking advantage of what people give him,” Emme said. “He takes what the pitcher gives him and takes advantage.”

Lemmerman’s emergence as a stellar all-around player has Emme excited.

“He’s definitely one of our best players,” Emme said. “He’s come a long way. It’s exciting to know I have him here for one more year.”

The Jake Lemmerman File

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 180

Sport: Baseball

Position: Shortstop

Coach: John Emme

Favorite food: Steak

Favorite movie: “Zoolander”

Favorite athletic moment: “Winning CIF as a freshman was probably the most exciting thing.”

Week in review: Lemmerman went three for four and scored the winning run in Corona del Mar’s 2-1 victory over Tesoro on April 26. He also walked and scored the game-winning run on Andrew Williamson’s single in the seventh inning of the Sea Kings’ 3-2 win over Tesoro two days later.dpt-athlete05.IMGGraphicInfoB21QLBDC20060505B21QLBDCNo Captiondpt.05-aow-lemmerman-BPhotoInfoJQ1QLBBU20060505iyrq5dncDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)