Sea Kings aim for next step

Chris Yemma

Corona del Mar High has long had a tradition of baseball prowess, but

the seeds in the softball department have only just been planted.

While the baseball team seeks to defend its CIF Southern Section

Division IV crown, the softball team seeks to qualify for the

postseason a fifth consecutive year.

The Sea Kings, fresh off a history-making season, won their first

CIF playoff game ever with a 5-2 wild-card victory over Mary Star of

the Sea last May.

Now, the bar has been raised to the next rung.

“I’m hoping to build off what we had last year and go further this

year,” said Sea Kings’ Coach Nichole Thompson, in her second year. “I

think we can do better.”

Corona del Mar, which finished 17-8, 6-5 in the Pacific Coast

League (3rd) last year, seeks a win today over Newport Harbor in the

Northwood tournament. It will mark the first meeting between the two

rivals this season.

The Sea Kings return nine players, only three of whom are seniors.

Last year’s squad, however, only consisted of two seniors, and a

first-year coach, the team’s fourth coach in as many years.

This season, the former two-time All-CIF second baseman for

Woodbridge, and Arizona State star, has one year of coaching

experience under her belt. And with only two starters lost, her team

also looks to have a little more experience.

CdM enters today’s matchup 5-4, led by the pitching of sophomore

Michelle Tolfa.

“So far, the pitching has been our strength,” said Thompson, who

helped lead the Warriors to back-to-back Division II section titles

in 1997 and ’98.

“I would say our pitching and our defense are our strengths. But

there’s still a lot to improve on and we still have to work out the

kinks.”

Tolfa, who is 5-4 thus far, has a 1.75 ERA with 58 strikeouts.

Freshman Karissa Dempsey has only pitched a few innings.

“Dempsey hasn’t gotten that much pitching time, but she’ll get

more as the season goes along,” Thompson said.

Thompson was hoping to have Holly Van Hiel available to pitch as

well, but a minor shoulder problem has been nagging the sophomore

thus far.

Van Hiel’s shoulder, however, hasn’t plagued her hitting ability.

She leads the team with a .375 batting average with five RBIs and two

home runs.

Heather Lohrman, who sat out two games after dislocating her

shoulder, will start today against Newport. After the initial injury

in practice two weeks ago, Thompson said she thought Lohrman would be

out for the season.

Thompson confirmed Friday that the senior, who verbally committed

to Niagara University in New York, will play today. She is second on

the team in hitting with a .300 average.

Both Lohrman and Van Hiel, along with senior Lauren Gega and

junior Andrea Dort, will be in leadership roles the team will look

to.

Other players include: Michele Allred, Allie Duernberger, Alex

Elias, Morgan Jones, Ann Klunder, Sophie Ramillon, Elena

Redelsheimer, Katie Schulte, Amy Smith and Karleen Wolonsky.

Thompson said she is looking to finish higher than the third-place

league finish of last year, though she expects Tesoro to claim first.