BASEBALL / GARY KLEIN : CSUN’s Sharts Hits His Stride as a Pitcher

Scott Sharts was a hit at the National Baseball Congress World Series, helping the Wichita (Kan.) Broncos win their second consecutive championship.

But Sharts, who batted .308 with 29 home runs and 76 runs batted in last season for Cal State Northridge, made an impact in the NBC World Series at Wichita with his arm, not his bat.

Sharts, a 6-foot-6 right-hander, earned his second save of the tournament Tuesday as Wichita defeated Midlothian, Ill., 8-6, to win the NBC title.

Wichita, which invited Sharts to play the past two seasons, is the first team to win back-to-back championships since Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1983-84.

“I had to make up for the important one we lost,” Sharts said, referring to Northridge’s 12-8 loss to Jacksonville (Ala.) State in the NCAA Division II World Series championship game in June. Sharts was the losing pitcher.

As a sophomore, Sharts compiled a 6-3 record and a 4.65 earned-run average at Northridge last season, but earned All-American honors for his hitting.

With a fastball that he says has been clocked between 88 and 92 m.p.h., Sharts is hoping to gain similar recognition for his pitching as Northridge steps up to Division I this season.

“I’m throwing harder with more command of my pitches,” said Sharts, who was 6-2 with a 2.40 ERA this summer, “but the key point for me is my mentality.

“Before this summer, I didn’t really have the guts to go after guys with my fastball. Now, after going after top college players and ex-pros, I figured out this is what I have to do.

“I talked to a lot of scouts there (at the NBC World Series) and not one of them talked about my hitting.

“I’m starting to change my focus a little bit and really keying on my pitching.”

Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said Sharts will contend for a spot in the Matadors’ rotation, but not at the expense of his run production.

“I wouldn’t even think of taking him out of the hitting lineup,” Kernen said.

“What he heard back there from scouts is not what I hear from scouts in our area.

“I mean, there just aren’t a lot of guys 6-feet-6 running around hitting the ball 500 feet.”

Back to work: Kernen recently returned from a vacation to the East Coast where he visited Fenway Park in Boston and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

“The place is unreal,” Kernen said of Cooperstown. “You learn more about the history of the game than you ever thought you would.

“It’s fun to walk down the street and everything has to do with baseball.”

Although the Matadors’ season opener is not until Jan. 25 at Grand Canyon College in Arizona, Kernen has plenty of baseball-related issues on his mind.

Earlier this week, assistant coaches Dave Weatherman and Rick Vanderhook announced they would not be returning for the 1991 season. Weatherman, CSUN’s pitching coach and full-time assistant, is leaving to spend more time attending to a health problem in his family. Vanderhook is leaving for financial reasons, Kernen said.

Kernen already has received several inquiries from would-be candidates for the positions, but he said he is in no hurry to make the hires. “We’re just telling guys to send in resumes,” he said.

“I’m waiting to see what happens with some other (coaching) situations around the country.”

Kernen was referring to the situation at the University of Illinois, where candidates are being interviewed for the coaching position left vacant by Augie Garrido. Garrido recently returned to Cal State Fullerton to replace Larry Cochell, who became coach at Oklahoma.

Illinois assistant Jody Robinson, who coached with Kernen and Garrido at Fullerton and Illinois, is pursuing the Illinois job.

But he would become Kernen’s top choice for the full-time assistant’s job if he does not get the Illinois position.

Playoff paradise: Kernen is among the baseball coaches across the nation who are rooting for a revision in the Division I playoff format that would expand the current 48-team field to 64.

The NCAA is expected to discuss proposals that would expand its playoff field to 64 teams at its January meeting in Nashville.

Currently, eight six-team regionals are held to determine the eight World Series participants.

There are 27 automatic bids and 21 at-large berths.

Proposals under discussion would feature either eight eight-team regionals or 16 four-team regionals with winners meeting in best-of-three series to determine the World Series representatives.

Northridge, which will be competing as an independent, is likely to benefit from the availability of more at-large berths.

“If it passes, it’s good news for us,” Kernen said. “When that goes into effect, I’ll feel a lot more comfortable about our chance to make the playoffs.

“Right now (under the 48-team format), we’re going to have to be really, really good.”

Old-timers’ day: Northridge, which begins fall practice in October, will play a November practice game against the San Bernardino Pride, one of two new franchises in the Senior League.

European vacation: Catcher Mike Sims found Europe to his liking recently when he ventured overseas with a team sponsored by the West Coast Baseball School in Agoura.

Sims, who will be a sophomore at CSUN, went nine for 15 in a five-game series against four teams in the Netherlands.

Former Chatsworth High infielder Nick Simpson, who will attend Arizona State, was a standout on defense.

The team, composed of high school and college players, won two games and lost three.

The Americans split two games with the Dutch Junior National team and went 1-2 against club teams that included several former college and professional players from the United States.

“Overall it was a good experience,” said Coach Mitch Miller, who plans to take a team to Czechoslovakia next summer. “It was tiring because we were on the go--playing or sightseeing--from 9 in the morning until 11:30 at night.

“But I think the players got a lot out of it.”