Clayton Earns All-American Recognition : College baseball: CSUN junior places third in balloting for player of the year.

Three years after he came close to attending junior college, Craig Clayton came very close to earning the college player-of-the-year award.

Clayton, Cal State Northridge’s winningest pitcher and top hitter, was chosen first-team All-American by College Baseball Magazine, it was announced Friday.

Bobby Jones, the Fresno State right-hander who defeated Clayton and Northridge, 7-2, in first-round West Regional II action Thursday, was selected player of the year. Clayton was third in the voting, behind David McCarty, Stanford’s first baseman.

Clayton, a junior, was a last-minute recruit by Northridge Coach Bill Kernen, who wooed him away from Cypress College the night before his first junior college class.

During the regular season, Clayton batted .372 with nine home runs and 52 runs batted in. As a pitcher, he set a school record with 14 complete games and had a 13-4 record, a 2.05 earned-run average and 150 strikeouts in 145 innings.

Clayton made the first team in the utility spot.

“It’s a great honor just to be mentioned in the top 10 guys in the country,” Clayton said. “The team deserves a lot of the credit. If we don’t do well as a team, I don’t get the recognition.”

Scott Sharts, a pitcher and first baseman for the Matadors, was a second-team selection at first base. He batted .297 with 22 home runs and 63 RBIs and was 10-6 as a pitcher with a 3.38 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 144 innings.

Sharts, a junior, was ninth in player-of-the-year balloting.