THE COLLEGES : Versatile Clayton Overlooked for Award

Jerry Kindall, one of the coaches who will guide the U. S. baseball team in this summer’s Pan American Games, was on the other end of the line when Cal State Northridge baseball Coach Bill Kernen picked up the phone the other day.

Kindall, the baseball coach at the University of Arizona, was inquiring about the progress of Craig Clayton, Scott Sharts and Ken Kendrena, a trio of Northridge players who are considered prospects for the national team.

Kernen started by obligingly reading off Clayton’s credentials as a hitter:.396 batting average, nine home runs, 51 runs batted in and .460 on-base percentage.

Sounds good, Kindall said. But what position would he play?

Anything but catcher, Kernen said.

OK, Kindall said. Now, about Sharts. . . .

Wait just a second, Kernen interrupted, you also might want to hear Clayton’s numbers as a pitcher: 11 wins. More strikeouts than innings pitched. An earned-run average of a buck and a half.

“I think,” Kernen said later, “he was pretty surprised.”

And with good reason. Not since John Olerud has a college baseball player been so dominant at both ends of a 60-foot 6-inch distance.

In 1988, Olerud batted .464 with 23 home runs and 81 RBIs in 66 games for Washington State. Olerud, now a Toronto Blue Jays first baseman, was 15-0 with a 2.49 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings as a pitcher. “And he never even played in the minors,” Kernen said. “He (made his debut) in the pros.”

But only after being chosen college player of the year by The Sporting News and several other publications.

So now the question: Why is Clayton not being considered for player of the year?

In its latest issue, Collegiate Baseball magazine lists six players whom it considers the leading candidates for its top honor.

They are outfielders Mark Smith of USC, Mike Kelly of Arizona State and James Ruocchio of C.W. Post, first baseman David McCarty of Stanford, third baseman Andy Bruce of Georgia Tech and pitcher Bobby Jones of Fresno State.

The New York Yankees are expected to make Kelly the nation’s top draft choice in June. McCarty and Bruce are among the nation’s top home run hitters and Smith possesses a combination of speed and power. Ruocchio doesn’t play against the best of competition, but it is difficult to ignore his statistics--a batting average of .475 with 17 home runs and 57 RBIs in only 32 games.

Jones, a hard-throwing right-hander, has an ERA of 1.30 and an 11-1 record. His only loss came against Northridge and Clayton, 4-1, in the Fresno tournament. Clayton pitched a three-hitter, outdueling Jones, who allowed six hits and four earned runs.

Still, it appears that Clayton, the best among a handful of major-college players who play a position when they don’t pitch, is not even considered an honors candidate in some quarters.

Yet in others, he is perhaps the best candidate.

“How could he not be?” Kernen asked. “There’s no reason to have the award if he’s not. If you’re doing something no one else is doing, that means you’re the guy.

“To do more than he has is not humanly possible.”

Power play: What’s all the fuss about at College of the Canyons?

Just because Jeff Dunlap, Canyons’ women’s basketball coach, prematurely announced that former Pierce Coach Rob Di Muro would be his assistant, Canyons administrators are crying foul. They say affirmative-action guidelines have not been followed. And they’re probably right.

Affirmative-action rules state, among other things, that a coaching vacancy must be advertised and formal interviews must take place before a hire is made. Neither happened at Canyons.

But so what? Although it is true that affirmative-action guidelines are normally adhered to, they often do not come into play until long after a decision has been made. More often than not, advertising and interviews are only a waste of time and money as athletic officials fake the motions of the process.

All Dunlap did was tip his hand.

Honor roll: Nothing against Bob Lofrano, but how could he be the one and only Western State Conference baseball coach of the year when he is co-coach at Pierce, sharing responsibilities with Bob Lyons?

Lofrano won’t go it alone at Pierce until next season. Lyons, 53, has resigned effective the end of this season. He will remain a full-time professor at Pierce, where he has taught since 1964.

Lyons holds the distinction of having taking teams to conference titles in his first and last seasons at Pierce. The Brahmas won the Metro Conference title in 1975 and were WSC co-champions this season.

Briefly: The Northridge baseball team is 15-1-1 at home where the Matadors have defeated the likes of USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara. The Matadors’ only loss, and the tie, came against the University of San Diego. Go figure. . . .

Having Denny Vigo healthy for the playoffs would make the Northridge baseball team even more explosive on offense.

Don’t be surprised if Freddie Bradley, Moorpark’s junior college All-American tailback, never plays NCAA Division I football. Sources at Moorpark say Bradley probably will not earn his Associate of Arts degree this spring, which might lead Arkansas to void its scholarship offer. . . .

Some in the Northridge athletic department wonder why most of the recruits brought in for visits by Matador volleyball coaches are taller than those brought in by the basketball coaches. . . .