CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Titans Betting on Pair of Aces

With her full-house pitching staff--a pair of aces and three of a kind--Coach Judi Garman believes a College World Series berth is in the cards for the Cal State Fullerton softball team this season.

“We haven’t been there in three years, but we should make it this year,” said Garman, whose Titans open at home against Cal Poly Pomona Sunday. “It’s our primary goal and we have the team to get there.”

Fueling Garman’s optimism is a pitching staff that looks so strong that returning ace Ann Van Dortrecht, a second-team All-American selection last season, may not even be the team’s best pitcher.

Challenging Van Dortrecht for the top spot will be sophomore Tiffany Boyd, a transfer from UCLA who went 19-2 as a freshman and led the Bruins to the 1989 national championship.

Garman said Boyd, who pitched Woodbridge High School to the Southern Section 2-A championship in 1988 and redshirted last season, was the best college pitcher in the nation in 1989.

Van Dortrecht, a junior right-hander, went 29-12 with a 0.43 earned-run average and 217 strikeouts last season.

Will the pitching circle be big enough for both standouts? With a schedule consisting of 22 doubleheaders and four tournaments, Garman says it will be.

“We have two great pitchers, which is what you need when you play doubleheaders all the time,” she said. “In big games, we went to Ann last year. She always started the first game and often relieved in the second.”

With three other capable pitchers--Miho Sasamoto of Japan and returnees Shireen Campbell and Tracy Tousley--Van Dortrecht’s sore shoulder should get plenty of rest, and that should make her even more effective, Garman said.

Sasamoto, a freshman, pitched on the Japan Junior National Team that participated in the ASA Junior World Tournament in 1987. In the championship game, the right-hander was the winning pitcher in a 4-1 victory over the U.S. team, which featured former Valencia High School standout Michele Granger.

Campbell, who went 15-10 with a 0.80 ERA, and Tousley, who went 1-1 with a 0.85 ERA last season, will pitch mostly in relief this season.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve had this much pitching,” Garman said. “Last year, we were on the skimpy side, but I feel we’re in luxury this year.”

Add softball: Garman’s improved pitching staff should benefit from a more potent offense, which features last season’s top three hitters--shortstop Charlotte Wiley (.315, 10 doubles, 20 RBIs), third baseman Joy Tiner (.311, 10 doubles, 17 RBIs) and left fielder Mich DeBree (.295, 17 RBIs).

Adding punch to the lineup will be freshman first baseman Kelly Hunt, the 1990 4-A player of the year at Charter Oak High School; junior center fielder K.C. Clark, a transfer from Sacramento City College, and junior catcher Kim Powers, a transfer from Indiana who was the Big Ten batting champion as a freshman.

Senior Jill Matyuch, a solid defensive player, will start at second or shortstop, depending on Wiley’s arm problems. Freshman Jennifer Shuey, a walk-on from Poway High School, will start in right field, and junior Karin Knoop, a transfer from L.A. Valley College, will see action at several positions, including catcher.

The Titan women’s basketball team cracked the Associated Press’ national poll for the first time in 14 years Monday when Fullerton was ranked 24th. The Titans, who haven’t been ranked since 1977, took a 16-4 record into Monday night’s game against 17th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas, but lost to the Rebels in overtime, 88-82.

“It (national ranking) means a lot to the players,” Fullerton Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah said. “And if you could have seen their reaction when they found out, you would understand why it’s so important.”

Titan Notes

The Fullerton baseball team has pulled out of the Carolina Invitational, a six-team tournament scheduled for May 17-19 at Chapel Hill, N.C., but Coach Augie Garrido said timing was more of a factor than budgetary considerations. The tournament, which includes North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, USC and UC Santa Barbara, is scheduled for the weekend prior to Fullerton’s final exams. It also falls on the weekend before NCAA Regional play starts. “I don’t think we should be going across the country the weekend before finals,” Garrido said. “What if we have a Tuesday makeup game or if we’re in the regionals the next weekend and have to go to South Carolina? Do we want to go back and forth across the country? The timing couldn’t have been worse.” . . . The Fullerton-Long Beach women’s basketball game, incorrectly listed for Thursday night on some Fullerton schedules, is Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the 49ers’ gym. . . . The Fullerton-Pacific men’s game, scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. in Titan Gym, will be televised live in Southern California by SportsChannel. . . . Senior gymnast Stacey Harris tied a school record with a 9.9 on the vault in Saturday’s victory over San Jose State. Susan Archer-Pennefather, in 1980, was the only other Titan to attain that mark on the vault. Fullerton (2-3) travels to top-ranked Utah for a dual meet Monday.