Slaten’s Pitching Makes Northridge Team to Beat

Will it again be the year of the Kat in women’s softball?

They think so in Akron, Ohio, where Cal State Northridge will play for its fourth straight Division II women’s title this weekend.

They also think so in Northridge, where pitcher Kathy (Kat) Slaten came out of a brief retirement to lead the Lady Matadors to their fifth straight Western Regional title last weekend against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Slaten ran her season record to 21-4-1 with a 2-1 victory in the third game of the best-of-three series. Northridge improved its record to 49-10-1, earning the top seeding in the NCAA tournament at the University of Akron. Other regional winners were Stephen F. Austin of Texas, Northeast Missouri and Bloomsburg State of Pennsylvania.

According to one source, those three don’t stand a chance. “You saw the national championship game right here today,” All-American outfielder Jill Hancock of San Luis Obispo said after the regional final. “Northridge is going to walk through that tournament in Ohio.”

Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson isn’t that certain, but he does admit: “This team has peaked right when it had to, at the regionals. Then you can handle the adrenaline, the excitement. I think we’re the team to beat.”

Northridge will open Friday against Austin, seeded No. 4 but potentially Northridge’s toughest obstacle. Austin was top-seeded a year ago and is back with much of the same team. Neither Bloomsburg nor Northeast Missouri has tournament experience. And neither has faced Slaten.

The senior right-hander, who “retired” after last season, citing the pressure of being expected to produce an annual national title, has a record of 122-31-1 and 21 no-hitters. She has had help this year from underclass teammates Delanee Anderson (14-3) and Lisa Martin (13-2), but Torgeson said that Slaten will probably start every game in the double-elimination tournament.

“She deserves it,” Torgeson said, adding that Slaten has changed her game a bit this season and has learned to allay some of the pressure. “Her power game really hasn’t been on this year. She’s gotten to where she can place the ball. She’ll probably be able to use her power more because they haven’t seen her. The two have to worry because they haven’t seen her. And Austin has to worry because it has,” he said.

Northridge’s .258 team batting average is appreciably higher than the last three championship teams, and Torgeson says that the defense, an early question mark, has jelled as well.

Center fielder Barbara Jordan, batting .392, is within one hit of her own school record of 68, has set records for total bases with 80 and runs with 46, and is tied for the record in walks with 19. “She’s the person that’s added the momentum,” Torgeson said.

Left fielder Beth Onestinghel, batting .320, has set the team record for runs batted in with 31. First baseman Kelly Winn has added 26 RBIs, and designated hitter Nancy Lucero drove in the winning run against San Luis Obispo.

Cal State Dominguez Hills held its breath long enough to squeak into the Division II baseball playoffs as champion of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. The Toros, with a 31-19-1 record, will play a best-of-five series starting Thursday at Sacramento State (37-21) in the Western Regional.

The Toros lost their final CCAA game to Cal Poly Pomona, then had to watch while Pomona played a three-game weekend series at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Pomona needed to win two games to clinch the title but instead lost two.

UC Riverside, given an improbable chance to tie, then played a makeup game at San Luis Obispo--and lost. The Toros finished at 19-11, Pomona 18-12 and Riverside 17-12.

Point Loma Nazarene shocked the NAIA baseball followers by winning its first District III title. Point Loma went into the District III tournament with a 13-32 record but won five straight games, one of them an upset of top-seeded Southern California College.

Point Loma will play in the regional tournament at Tacoma against Hawaii Hilo, Pacific Lutheran and the winner of a playoff between Willamette and Eastern Oregon.

The District III champion has advanced to the NAIA World Series three of the last four years. If Point Loma continues the trend it will take the worst record ever into the World Series, according to a district statistician.