Sobrato High boys water polo coach Ronni Gautschi doesn’t care what club team her players compete for—she only cares that they’re playing for someone. Gautschi, who coaches the Manta club program, makes no bones about it: If you don’t play year-round, it’s going to be tough cracking the Bulldogs starting lineup.
“I’m happy to see most of the boys put in the work out of season,” said Gautschi, who is in her second season as the Sobrato coach. “But you know the ones who are playing and the ones who aren’t playing out of season. It shows up once the season starts.”
Gautschi’s no-frills attitude has resulted in a Sobrato squad that plays tough and practices hard. It also leads to results, as the Bulldogs finished fourth in the ultra-tough Blossom Valley League Mount Hamilton Division last year. And it’s why the Bulldogs have a chance to move up the standings this season.
“I know versus Leland and Pioneer, it’ll probably be a hard time, but we have Lincoln, Live Oak and Santa Teresa, and those are three wins I expect,” said Gautschi, whose brother, Ryan, is the Live Oak coach. “I want to beat them for sure. If they don’t, they’ll be in big trouble.”
Even though the Bulldogs graduated seven seniors and a handful of starters off a 2017 team that advanced to the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs, they return a solid core group of players who are talented and improved in the off-season.
Jacob Hatch, a senior hole guard/attacker, is the team’s best player. Hatch possesses long arms, which gives him a nice advantage in the pool.
“He’s got stupid long arms they’re so long, and it helps him guard strong players,” Gautschi said. “He’ll probably be our No. 1 scorer and is super fast.”
Gautschi and Hatch had a poignant heart-to-heart talk over the summer, with Gautschi giving Hatch a reality check in his quest to become a Division I scholarship athlete.
“Basically (the gist of the message was) if he wanted to be a D1 athlete, he needed to put in the effort,” Gautschi said. “And he has done that this summer. Before he put in the least amount of effort needed, and D1 athletes don’t work out that way. I told him he’s the captain until he missed a practice, and he hasn’t missed one yet. I think he’s decided he wants to be a college athlete, which is great.”
Noah Lee, a sophomore hole-set, has upped his game and has tremendous potential.
“He can be a great player,” Gautschi said. “He works very hard and is very physical—sometimes too physical.”
Gautschi said Lee has undergone a complete transformation from when he started playing high school water polo.
“When Noah started playing, he wouldn’t touch anyone,” she said. “Now he’s gone to the opposite side where he’s quite offensive, but over the summer he worked quite a bit on not being offensive but being very aggressive. He’s going to be a key player for us.”
Jake Mendes, a returning senior who plays hole-guard and hole-set, is a very coachable player and “has come a long way mentally.” Mendes’ versatility gives Sobrato a variety of ways to attack and defend opposing teams. Key newcomers include Nikolas Jensen and Shane Sawyer, who played on the junior varsity team last season.
Both players competed for Manta over the summer, making tremendous improvement in the process. Gautschi said the spot for the starting goalie position will be an interesting one, as senior James Bolton and Cameron Storlie vie for the spot.
“It’ll be interesting to see who plays the best because I’m definitely the coach who plays to win,” Gautschi said. “I think at this level that is what we should do—they’re not 10 anymore. Whoever is playing the best will play in goal.”
Stephen Parker is another player with tremendous speed who put in a lot of work in the off-season, and Gautschi said she’s excited to see how Parker does this year. Even though this year’s team is not as experienced as the 2017 team, Gautschi said she’s equally excited to see how the season unfolds.
“I’m equally happy with the players we have now,” she said. “A lot of them played out of season, and they’ve been working hard. As long as we play well, I don’t care if we win or lose. Even if we lose to a (bad) team, if we play our type of water polo, I wouldn’t mind.”
Hatch, who scored 60-plus goals last season, has a laser for a shot and utilizes his speed to get goals via the fast break and counterattack.
“We work a lot on our velocity and putting the ball in the right spot in practice,” he said. “I’m pretty excited because I feel like our team is practicing well right now. I’m confident in them in whoever we go against.”
After a standout sophomore season, Hatch took his game up another notch playing for Manta this summer. He credited Gautschi for helping him develop to play at a higher level.
“She’s been there for me the whole time,” the 6-foot-3, 146-pound Hatch said. “She’s helped me a lot, and was my Junior Olympics coach this summer. We played really well and she has high expectations for me.”
Hatch said the team he was on moved up 40 spots, placing sixth in its division and 47th overall.
“Playing against players who play year-around and who have a lot more experience helps me get better,” he said. “They’re a lot bigger and stronger, and that is where I need to be.”
