CSUN’s First Steps Steady, If Unspectacular : Young Team Showed Promise Along Path to Division I in Baseball

Standing on a deserted diamond at Cal State Dominguez Hills last Saturday, Bill Kernen was aware that he might have witnessed the Cal State Northridge baseball team’s final game of his inaugural season as coach of the Matadors.

Northridge had just dropped a 9-6 decision to Dominguez Hills that eliminated the need for a makeup game with California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champion Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and put second-place Northridge’s playoff hopes in the hands of a committee.

Kernen sounded confident that his young team would gain an at-large berth in the Western regional. However, he also was realistic. And, unfortunately for the Matadors, prophetic.

“If you don’t win your league then you do leave yourself open for opinion to make the choice,” Kernen said.

The selection committee chose San Francisco State, the champion of the weaker Northern California Athletic Assn., as the third entry in a three-team Western regional field that also will include San Luis Obispo and Cal State Sacramento, an independent that was ranked among the Top 10 all season.

But despite the playoff snub, the opinion of those who watched Kernen turn a team that was 22-33 in 1988 into the club that finished 30-19-1 this season, is that the once-proud Northridge program is back and headed toward a successful transition to Division I in 1991.

“My main objective is what’s going to be successful two years from now,” Kernen said Tuesday. “That’s what I was working on this season and that’s what I’m working on now.

“There are things I could have done better or differently this season, but if you look at the results, I’m satisfied that I gave these guys a chance to be successful and win 30 games.”

The Matadors’ success this season was the result of excellent pitching and usually reliable defensive play that compensated for a lack of offense and experience.

Senior catcher Rusty McLain handled a staff led by senior pitchers Robert Wheatcroft and Fili Martinez that compiled a 4.13 earned-run average--cutting more than two runs off last season’s 6.41 mark.

Wheatcroft, a right-hander who was 3-7 with a 6.85 ERA in 1988, improved to 11-3 with a 4.11 ERA this season. Martinez, who was 5-3 with a 5.40 ERA in 1988, improved to 8-4 with a 2.45 ERA and established himself as one of the top left-handers in Southern California with impressive wins over USC and Fresno State.

However, only two players, freshman Craig Clayton and senior Chae-Ho Chong batted better than .300 for the Matadors, who hit .270 as a team.

“We didn’t have power, we didn’t have speed and our bat-control skills are still developing,” Kernen said. “But you can take this to Vegas: There will never be another year when Northridge has only two guys hit over .300 and there will never be another year when we have a team batting average below .300.”

There also will probably never be a year in which the Matadors feature as much youth.

From the day he was named to replace Terry Craven last June, Kernen emphasized his intention to live and die with a lineup that, at times, featured as many as six freshmen.

And after winning 10 of their first 11 games, including their first three in conference, the Matadors were living the high life.

“That start was the result of outstanding pitching,” Kernen said, “and clutch performances.”

Both of those traits were missing during a pivotal two-week period at the beginning of March, during which Northridge lost five consecutive conference games and tied another.

“That week obviously took us out of the league race,” Kernen said. “One of the things I stressed all year was that you never know when your most important at-bat or game is going to be.

“When you look back, it wasn’t the Dominguez loss on the last day that beat us. It was 12 of them that kept us out.”

The Matadors won seven of their last 10 games in their drive for a share of the conference title but spotted Dominguez Hills what proved to be an insurmountable nine-run lead after two innings of a season finale they needed to win to stay in the race.

From a team standpoint, Northridge’s season was highlighted by its contention for the conference title and by wins over USC, Fresno State and Pepperdine, all of which will participate in the Division I playoffs that begin next Thursday.

Individually, Chong batted .308 with 10 home runs and 36 runs batted in and was the only CSUN player selected first-team all conference.

However, Clayton and fellow freshmen Greg Shockey, Mike Solar and Denny Vigo all had memorable seasons.

Clayton, who batted a team-high .314 with six home runs and 32 RBIs, played left field, right field, shortstop, second base and also was used as a relief pitcher. His consistent play helped him earn second-team, all-conference honors.

Shockey did not commit an error in 48 games as the team’s center fielder and batted .292 in conference (.271 overall) after missing the entire fall because of a transcript delay.

Solar batted .289 and hit all three of his home runs during the final week of the season. He committed 17 errors at shortstop but improved after recovering from an early season finger injury.

Vigo committed a team-high 26 errors at third base and batted just .241, but he also had game-winning home runs in the ninth inning against Fresno State and UC Riverside.

“The freshmen performed beyond my expectations,” Kernen said. “By the time they play summer ball and another fall, you’re looking at veteran players. I expect them to compete with anybody next year.”

Kernen also expects the Northridge program to compete with the other top programs in the country. Now that his first season is complete, so is the first step.

“One of our objectives was to bring the program to a position of leadership in the Valley,” Kernen said. “We want our facility, program and players to be the center of attention. I think we’ve gone quite a ways toward that.”