Youth ‘en vogue’ for baby Sea Kings

Everywhere Barry O’Dea looks, he sees youth.

For starters, Corona del Mar High water polo coach’s wife gave birth to the couple’s second daughter in late August.

But, beyond that, O’Dea’s other “baby” — this year’s Sea Kings — could also be described as baby-faced.

CdM returns just two players who saw extended playing time on varsity last season, in seniors Chris Cottrell and Evan Zepfel.

Jake Schwartz also saw some limited playing time on varsity last season for the Sea Kings, who won the Pacific Coast League championship and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division I quarterfinals before losing a heartbreaking 8-7 game against Back Bay rival Newport Harbor.

“This is basically last year’s frosh-soph team brought up to varsity, mixing with Cottrell, Zepfel and Schwartz,” O’Dea said. “These guys are all pretty raw.”

All seven starters from last year have graduated, including UC Berkeley-bound Mike Berry, who was the league MVP a year ago and scored a team-high 80 goals. Berry, a driver, also made the All-CIF Southern Section Division I first team.

But Berry was complemented by a large group of fellow seniors including Ryan Kent, Brian Peotter, Ryan Hultman, R.J. Baldoni, Greg Sanford and Nick Jones.

“They were pretty good,” O’Dea said. “But by the end of this season, I think you’ll see this team improve. We’ll be there at the end of the season. Over the last two seasons, my teams have come a long way from the beginning to the end.”

Cottrell, a driver who O’Dea calls the team’s fastest swimmer, and Zepfel, a utility player, should help CdM by returning. Zepfel is trying to get healthy, as he missed Wednesday’s scrimmage against Newport Harbor with a shoulder injury.

“Right now, Chris looks to be one of the leaders on the team,” O’Dea said. “He leads by example and his work ethic. He doesn’t get out there and talk a lot, but he works his rear end off. Evan talks a little more and he brings stability to the team. He will cover when he has to, and he’ll put his shots away when he gets opportunities. He’s a solid all-around player.”

Lucas Reynolds, a 6-foot-4 two-meter player, is a junior. Another junior, Carter Taylor, also has size at 6-3 and can play two-meter defense.

“As soon as Lucas figures out how to use his big old body, he’s going to be a pretty solid two-meter man,” O’Dea said. “His legs are getting better. We’re training a little bit differently this year; we’re putting more emphasis on the legs. I think by the end of the season, our ability to stay in a game for four quarters is going to be better. We’re doing a lot of cardio training.”

Brian Schiefer is another junior who O’Dea said has a good understanding of the game, and sophomore Michael Liao has a lot of experience in club water polo. Sophomore Isle Anderson and senior Travis Leyton are in competition for the starting nod at goalie.

The Sea Kings also have a lot of left-handed players this year, like sophomore Max Bergeson, junior Sam Forrest and senior Timmy Rolfes. Bergeson, a transfer from Carlsbad, appears to have a particularly bright future.

As a freshman last year, Bergeson was second-team All-Avocado League in the CIF-San Diego Section. Bergeson helped Carlsbad to its fourth straight San Diego Section Division I title.

“We’re a whole different ballclub when Max is in the water,” O’Dea said. “He raises us up another bar. He’s the best left-handed passer I’ve had in quite some time. He can read the pool really well, he can shoot lights out and he’s probably our No. 1 or No. 2 defender. He makes everyone around him better as well.”

Bergeson and fellow sophomore Justin Papa were summer leaders for the CdM club team, which finished an impressive fourth at the Hawaii Invitational in the boys’ under-16 division.

“That’s what our team really is,” O’Dea said. “Our sophomore group and our current juniors, when they all figure each other out, it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch. I expect a lot of growth and a lot of improvement.”

Adding depth for the Sea Kings are senior Dane Johnston, juniors Chris Berry, Geoff Gilbert, Kenny Cooper, Nick Klein, Ryan Akiba and Alec Wilson and sophomore Jim Krolopp. Kareem Captan, who played water polo at Long Beach State, is a new assistant coach. O’Dea said he knows Captan from coaching at the Orange County Water Polo Foundation.

Corona del Mar plays Harvard-Westlake on Wednesday and Foothill on Friday . Both are supposed to be CdM home games, but the venues are still to be determined.