Field of Dreams

In search of a head coaching job, Cassidy Olson left Mira Costa High School as an assistant baseball coach in 2008.

He found what he was looking for at rival Redondo Union High in 2009. But when the same coaching position opened up at Mira Costa the following year, he returned to the school where he has been teaching since 2003.

As the Mustangs welcomed Olson back with open arms, his team won a Bay League championship in his first season. The Mustangs also reached the CIF Southern Section Division 2 semifinals.

The logical question now is: What will Olson and the Mustangs do for an encore?

“We lost seven of our nine starters, including all of our pitchers,” Olson said prior to Mira Costa's 8-5 win over Canyon on Thursday in the Loara Tournament. “We know we’re going to be inexperienced. But so far I’m pretty happy with how we’ve done, especially with our pitching and our defense.”

“We got three quality starts in our first three games, but we didn’t hit,” he added. “We know we will start hitting, so that bodes well for us later in the season.”

No matter what happens this year, though, Olson is happy to be back at Mira Costa.

“It’s a great school,” he said. “The kids are great. They work their butts off. There’s great facilities and great community support. The parents are very involved.”

Mira Costa benefits from a strong year-round baseball program in the immediate area. That was proven last year when a team from Manhattan Beach went 15-0 to reach the  in Bangor, Maine.

“All the kids were on that team,” Olson said. “I don’t think we’re going to out-talent everyone, but if we play together as a team we can do some damage this season.”

While the Mustangs are inexperienced at the varsity level, they do have 10 seniors on their team. Seven of them played for the JV team that went 26-3.

“Those juniors got a lot of playing time instead of sitting on the bench on varsity,” Olson said. “A lot will depend on how they make the transition.”

Senior right-hander Sean Isaac, junior righty Turner Conrad and senior right-hander Michael Romo have turned in solid starting stints early in the season.

Derek Largent, Anthony Lombardo, Morgan Ascher and Austin Henning also figure to get some innings early in the year. Lombardo has already committed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“We’ve got a deep staff, but not a lot of innings between them,” Olson said. “We will see how it all plays out.”

By the time Bay League play rolls around there should be more clarity. At this early stage, Olson said, Peninsula looks strong, Palos Verdes is always good and Redondo appears to be improving.

A New Look

The new ball field at Redondo Union High is a showcase step forward for the school’s girls softball program—that’s how seven-year coach Jennifer Dessert sees it.

“The new facilities have changed in a big way the outlook for our program,” Dessert said Thursday. “We’re excited to be able to play under the lights and to have such a great facility for softball.”

“I think that’s raised the energy level and the expectations for everyone. We were the Bay League champions in ’07 and ’08, but the last two years we’ve been battling for second place,” she said. “A lot of us feel we’re ready for a fresh start with the facility we have now. My girls are ready to fight for a league championship.”

Of course, it takes more than beautiful new facilities to compete for a championship. On that score, Dessert thinks she has a team that has enough talent to win if it fights for every run, plays good defense and gets good pitching from senior captain Brett Aspel and talented freshman Katrina Cohen.

The timing couldn’t be better for Cohen, who is starting her high school softball career just as the new facilities have upgraded the program. She has already hit a home run this year and has the ability to contribute as a pitcher as well.

“She’s definitely a star in the making,” Dessert said. “She’s got a great swing and she can pitch, too.”

The team’s other two captains, shortstop Cindy Zamudio and infielder Linda Park, are critical to the Sea Hawks’ chances this season.

“When my three captains show the leadership that is equal to their ability, which I think they will, we will really rise as a team,” Dessert said. “I believe that senior leadership can take us far this year.”

The Sea Hawks got off to a sluggish 1-3 start this season, but they’ve played a very tough schedule, losing to CIF Division I-quality teams.

“We want our team playing the best because that’s where we want to get to,” Dessert said. “We got down in a couple of those games, but we fought back… Everybody is starting to understand that we have a team that wants to fight for it. I think that will be a big plus as the year goes on.”

The Bay League will be tough, as usual, Dessert said. But she’s optimistic.

“Palos Verdes will be tough and Costa’s bats will be a factor,” she said. “But if we can compete with them, we’ll be contenders for No. 1 in the league.”