CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE BASEBALL PREVIEW : Matadors Preparing for Prime Time With Hard-Hitting Schedule

The season is at hand, but it’s the season that preoccupies Bill Kernen’s mind.

With his Cal State Northridge baseball team about to embark on its 1990 schedule, Kernen, as he is wont, is thinking ahead to 1991 when the Matadors move from NCAA Division II to Division I.

“We want to win and be champions, but our real goal is to continue to develop into a top-level Division I program,” Kernen said. “I definitely feel that we’re right on target to do that.”

Sound familiar?

That was Kernen’s credo from the time he took over for Terry Craven in the summer of 1988 through the end of last season, when the Matadors finished 30-19-1 overall and 16-12-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. and just barely missed an at-large berth in the Division II playoffs.

Northridge is preparing for next season’s jump by playing 21 Division I opponents this season, including USC at Dedeaux Field in its opener Tuesday night. The Trojans are ranked No. 1 in the nation by Baseball America magazine.

“The ratings stuff is interesting, but at this time of the year, you’re trying to get your feet on the ground and get ready for your conference schedule,” Kernen said. “But I’d be trying to be too cool if I said it wasn’t an exciting feeling to play them (USC), because those are the teams we’re trying to jump into the deep end of the pool with.”

More than any other factor, injuries will determine whether the Matadors sink or swim this season.

The Northridge roster includes only 21 players, 10 of whom are pitchers. Once again, the team is dominated by freshmen and sophomores. There are just two seniors and one junior.

“We don’t have any depth,” Kernen said. “If we get buried with injuries, we have big-time problems. It’s kind of scary. Numbers-wise, it’s going to take another year of recruiting to get things where they really need to be.”

What the Matadors lack in depth, they will attempt to make up for with versatility. Just about every player is adept at two or more positions.

Sophomore Craig Clayton, who batted a team-high .314 last season, is perhaps the key player for the Matadors. Clayton played second base, shortstop and outfield and also pitched in relief. This season, he will join the starting rotation and will play another position on days he doesn’t pitch.

Other important returning players include shortstop Mike Solar (.289), who will miss the first four games while recovering from hernia surgery; center fielder Greg Shockey (.271); and third baseman Denny Vigo (.241). All are sophomores who were starters as freshmen.

Newcomers include sophomore Scott Sharts, the Southern Section career home run leader from Simi Valley High who transferred to Northridge from Miami. Sharts, a right-hander, will be in the starting rotation and will play first base when he is not pitching. Eric Johnson, a freshman from Chatsworth, will back up Sharts at first.

Mike Sims, a freshman from Alemany, is the catcher and Scott Richardson, a freshman from Eisenhower, will start at second base. Freshman Andy Hodgins, who played at Simi Valley, will open the season as the team’s starting shortstop until Solar returns.

Sophomore J. D. Haendiges, freshman Kyle Washington and Hodgins will compete for playing time in the outfield.

“It’s going to be a team with power,” Kernen said. “We’re going to be able to hit.”

Kernen, however, is less certain about his pitching staff.

“A lot of guys will be given opportunities,” Kernen said. “There’s a lot of questions left to be answered about roles.”

New Matador assistant coach Dave Weatherman, who pitched Cal State Fullerton to a national championship in 1979, will be responsible for a staff that figures to be anchored by senior right-hander Val Lopez (6-9, 4.15). Clayton, Sharts, freshman left-hander John Bushart and freshman right-hander Monte Jones are other starters.

Sophomore left-hander Pierre Amado, sophomore right-hander Eric Spellman and junior right-hander Todd Denhart, a transfer from El Camino College, also will see action.