CSUN to Risk Ranking in Softball Regional

The Cal State Northridge softball team will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., to play in the NCAA Division II Midwest regional beginning Saturday.

The Lady Matadors (46-19), ranked No. 1 in the nation, will open the double-elimination tournament against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. Augustana (S.D.) and Nebraska-Omaha will meet in the other first-round game.

Northridge will play at least two games Saturday. The championship semifinals and finals are Sunday. The regional winner advances to the national tournament, May 18-19 in Midland, Mich.

Debbie Dickmann, Patti Pearson and Lisa Erickson of Cal State Northridge have been selected to the National Softball Coaches Assn. West Region first team.

Dickmann, a senior pitcher, is bidding to become a four-time All-American. Pearson, a sophomore catcher, earned postseason honors for the first time. Erickson, a senior center fielder, was co-most valuable player in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

Anna Getherall, CSUN’s senior shortstop, was a second-team selection.

Wendy Ware and Michele Scott, sophomore tennis players at Antelope Valley College, combined to win the Foothill Conference doubles title last weekend.

Their victory gave Antelope Valley its first women’s individual tennis title in more than 10 years.

Three Antelope Valley College softball players were named to the Foothill Conference first team. They are Marianne Spencer, a right-handed sophomore pitcher from Antelope Valley High; Heather Clark, a sophomore center fielder from Palmdale High; and Betsy Lund, a freshman shortstop from Birmingham High.

Utility player Pam Craycraft and third baseman Cheri Bainbridge were named to the second team.

Steve Lasagna, Antelope Valley College’s sophomore catcher, was named All-Foothill Conference first team. Antelope Valley’s Jim Estes, a sophomore and former teammate of Lasagna’s at Antelope Valley High, was named an all-conference outfielder.

Antelope Valley’s honorable-mention selections included infielders Don Grant and Chris Grant and pitchers Steve Medina and Tim Johnson. Antelope Valley finished 11-26, 5-15 in conference.