THE COLLEGES : Master’s Martin Changes Sides, Not Results, at Plate

Andy Martin was recruited by The Master’s College to hit baseballs, something he does particularly well.

At Escondido High last year, Martin set a San Diego Section record with hits in 12 consecutive at-bats.

So imagine the horror of Mustang coaches when Martin jammed his left shoulder diving back to first base during a practice game last fall.

Unable to swing a bat without pain from the right side, Martin was forced, out of desperation, to try something new: batting left-handed.

And he didn’t miss a beat. Martin, Master’s starting third baseman, entered Friday’s game against Biola batting .349.

But with his shoulder feeling better, Martin couldn’t resist the temptation to return to batting from the right side.

He went 0 for 4.

Masters at bat: Martin hasn’t been the only hitting star for Master’s, which has won nine of its past 11 games. The Mustangs (17-15) have a .316 batting average and senior Mark MacArthur is close to breaking his fifth career record this season.

MacArthur, from L. A. Baptist High, needs one more triple to tie the school mark of 10 set by Steve Souza from 1972-75. MacArthur already has records for hits, at-bats, runs scored and runs batted in. Coming into the season he had the standards for home runs, hit by pitches and assists.

In addition, Sheldon Sparks went 2 for 5 against Biola on Friday to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. He has raised his batting average from .250 to .362 in the past month and leads the Mustangs with 17 steals.

Craig Johnson leads the team with a .398 batting average and has gone hitless in only two of 29 games. He also has played nearly flawlessly at second base with only three errors in 148 chances.

No doubting Thomas: It seemed an idle boast at the time, but Moorpark softball Coach Will Thurston’s preseason prediction of 25 wins for pitcher Robin Thomas is looking better all the time.

Thomas, a freshman from Newbury Park, has 16 of Moorpark’s 17 wins this season, against only three losses.

Not bad considering the last time Thomas pitched regularly was as a high school sophomore.

Thurston based his prognostication--which was recorded in the team’s media guide--on what he had seen of Thomas when she was 14.

“I first saw her pitch when I was at an opening ceremonies and she played on a 14-and-under Bobby Sox team,” Thurston said. “She ended up MVP and she pitched her team to a national championship.”

Thurston hopes for a similar feat--a state title, perhaps?--this season. Moorpark is 17-5 overall, 9-0 in Western State Conference play, has a 15-game WSC winning streak and is unbeaten in its past 46 conference games at home.

Moorpark’s third-place finish in the state tournament last season was the school’s best. However, with the loss of ace pitcher De Dow, the Lady Raiders didn’t figure to be as strong this season.

Enter Thomas.

“She doesn’t have the mixture of pitches De did, and she’s probably a tad slower,” Thurston said. “But she has that attitude on the mound that you love your No. 1 pitcher to have--’Give me the ball and let’s get it done.’ ”

Thomas throws a drop and a rise to complement her out pitch--a knuckle changeup. “Probably her No. 1 strength is that as a converted shortstop and second baseman, she fields her position very well,” Thurston said.

She also has plenty of support in surrounding areas.

Catcher Missy Cress was voted the WSC’s Most Valuable Player last season, when first baseman Chris Singer was an all-conference selection and had a school-record 34 RBIs. Second baseman Audra Olive was a National Softball Coaches Assn. All-American and third baseman Rustie Stevens was a second-team all-state selection as an outfielder in 1989.

Two-liners: Trevor Wilson of UCLA and Cleveland High compares favorably as a college basketball player to the Lakers’ A. C. Green, formerly of Oregon State. Wilson’s strengths are defense and rebounding and, like Green, he should go late in the first round of the NBA draft . . .

Two weeks ago, Northridge seemed a lock for a berth in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. postseason tournament, but since then the Matadors have lost four in a row. Northridge, which hosts the WIVA tournament April 25-28, can still wrap up a bid next week by winning one of its two matches at Brigham Young . . .

The Pierce College men’s tennis team will play in Hawaii next week. Shouldn’t every team have a coach like the Brahmas’ Paul Xanthos, who owns a travel agency? . . .

Cal State Bakersfield finished with a 29-5 record and advanced to the NCAA Division II basketball championship game, where it lost to Kentucky Wesleyan, 93-79. The only team to defeat the Roadrunners twice this season was--surprise!--Northridge (12-15), which defeated Bakersfield, 61-58 and 96-88 . . .

Eastern Washington delivered a one-two combination against Northridge when it hired Ran Railey, director of athletic fund-raising at CSUN, to a similar position. Railey’s wife, Rocky, is CSUN’s sports information director.

Training light: Spring practice, such as it was, concluded on Thursday for the Northridge football team.

In accord with new NCAA limitations on practice time, the Matadors were allowed only 24 hours of training--two hours a day, including meeting time, for 12 days with no contact.

CSUN Coach Bob Burt said he is not a supporter of the new legislation.

“If you’re going to have spring football, then let’s practice football,” Burt said. “Football is a collision game and you play it with pads on.

“The offensive line is really our only question mark and it’s hard to tell a lot without pads. We have the makings of a decent offensive line, I think. But it’s hard to tell how physical we are when nobody is hitting.”

If raw numbers are any indication, the Matadors figure to be improved on the line. CSUN had 12 linemen practicing compared to less than half that number last spring.