Long-Range Plan Spurred Calcante’s Bid

Beth Calcante shattered the Cal State Northridge single-season home run record last weekend simply because she gave no thought to the matter.

“Last year, after I hit my third home run, I thought too much about swinging for the fence,” Calcante said. “This year, Coach (Gary Torgeson) told me, ‘If you break the record, you break the record, don’t worry about it.’ ”

Not worrying about breaking records has enabled Calcante, a sophomore shortstop from Newbury Park High, to do just that.

With solo home runs against Creighton and San Diego State in the Bakersfield tournament, Calcante increased her season total to five, one more than the record shared by Priscilla Rouse (1987) and Lisa Erickson (1988).

Moreover, Calcante has eight home runs in less than two seasons, which makes her the Matadors’ all-time home run leader. Rouse hit six from 1985-87.

With 10 home runs in the next 2 1/2 seasons, Calcante could move into 15th place on the NCAA’s all-time list. The leader is Liz Mizera, who hit 34 home runs for Texas A&M; from 1985-88. Mizera also holds the single-season record of 18, set in 1985.

Calcante’s home runs have come in two varieties--over the fence or over the heads of outfielders at fields where there is either no fence or a deep fence.

San Diego State, for example, played Calcante insultingly shallow. “They gave me no respect,” she said. “They didn’t respect Tamara (Ivie) either. She drove it over their heads too.”

Calcante enjoys making outfielders regret their shallow positioning.

“When someone walks by the park and sees where the outfielders are playing me, they must think, ‘That third hitter must really stink because look where the outfielders are playing her,’ ” she said. “I want to be respected. When I played outfield, I respected the hitters.”

SLEEPING GIANT?

Looking for the best junior college baseball team in the region with a record below .500? Try College of the Canyons.

The Cougars (9-11) have begun to make noise in what figures to be an interesting race for the Western State Conference title.

Canyons, a light-hitting team with a solid pitching staff, scored a convincing 9-2 victory over defending WSC champion Pierce on Tuesday to hand the Brahmas their first conference loss.

Canyons freshman right-hander R.J. Simone, who had thrown a one-hitter earlier this season, struck out nine in eight innings, and teammate Mike Kerber hit a grand slam.

The Cougars, who traditionally play a difficult nonconference schedule, improved their WSC mark to 6-3, 1 1/2 games behind co-leaders Pierce and Ventura.

“We played that tough nonconference schedule and maybe it shook our confidence,” said Canyons Coach Len Mohney, whose team came within one win of the WSC title last year after an 0-8-1 nonconference start. “But we know we can play. If, offensively, we can get some people going, we’ve got a shot.”

AROUND THE HORN

The responsibility for an offensive turnaround at Canyons likely will fall on the infielders, a group that includes four returning all-conference players from the past two seasons.

First baseman Kerber, an All-WSC pick in 1990, leads Canyons with three homers. The Cougars have only seven homers in 20 games. Pierce’s designated hitter, Robby Welles, has eight home runs in 18 games.

Canyons second baseman Pat DeBoer, shortstop Walter White and third baseman Bobby Corrales struggled at the plate early in the season but have shown signs of emerging. On Monday, Corrales hit a game-winning solo homer in the bottom of the 10th in a 4-3 win over Oxnard. DeBoer hit his first homer of the season in the same game.

The Cougars figure to get a significant lift Saturday with the return of sophomore pitchers Mitch Bowen and Kevin Foderaro, who have been sidelined because of sore arms for several weeks.

Bowen, a right-hander from St. Francis High, is considered one of the area’s top four-year college prospects. Foderaro, a right-hander from Hart, is Canyons’ top setup man and he also can start.

THE VULTURE VIC

Ventura (14-4 overall), the WSC’s surprise team at 7-1, has one of the region’s most successful relievers in right-hander Pete Alamillo.

Alamillo, a freshman from Santa Paula High, began the week with a 4-0 record and three saves. His ability to come in late in a close contest and emerge with a victory has prompted Coach Gary Anglin to give him the sobriquet “Vulture Vic.”

“He gets the vulture victories,” Anglin said. “He’s our closer, so he’s 4-0 in a minimum amount of innings.”

During Saturday’s 5-3 victory over Moorpark, however, Anglin called on Alamillo in the third inning and the pitcher responded with four innings of shutout ball--and, of course, the victory.

INJURY UPDATE

Cal State Northridge middle blocker Craig Hewitt suffered a left-ankle sprain against Pepperdine on Tuesday night and the injury will keep him out of today’s volleyball match at Brigham Young, according to Northridge trainer Bill Miller.

Hewitt also is doubtful for Friday’s match at BYU but is expected to play Monday against Hawaii at home.

Hewitt, a 6-foot-6 sophomore and one of four former Chatsworth High players on the team, ranks 12th nationally in hitting percentage (.417).

LINDSTROM SHINES

Northridge senior pitcher Heather Lindstrom, who has alternated starts with freshman Kathy Blake, hit her stride recently with two-hit shutouts of Creighton and 10th-ranked Arizona State.

Northridge Coach Gary Torgeson said the Arizona State game March 8 was the turning point.

“That’s the best game she’s pitched,” Torgeson said. “We need her. She’s been a solid person for us over the years.”

Lindstrom (3-5) has lowered her earned-run average to 1.90.

HOME SWEET HOME

After playing 36 of its first 38 games on the road, the 19th-ranked Northridge softball team will begin a lengthy home stand Tuesday with a doubleheader against eighth-ranked Minnesota.

On Wednesday, Northridge will play host to 16th-ranked Oregon in another doubleheader. On March 26-28, the Matadors will stage a round-robin tournament featuring DePaul, Michigan State, Southern Utah, UC Santa Barbara and Oregon State.

PERFECT TIMING

Bill Mazurie of Cerritos began last week’s state basketball tournament at the San Jose State Event Center with only lukewarm interest from NCAA Division I teams, but his stock has probably risen after leading the Falcons to an upset of top-ranked West Valley in the championship game Saturday night.

Mazurie, who played as a freshman for Cal State Northridge before redshirting at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last season, scored 30 points in the Falcons’ 89-87 victory over West Valley and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

The 6-3 guard averaged 26.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists during the tournament.

He scored 32 points in an 82-74 win over Ventura in the semifinals Friday. He had 18 points and hit the game-winning shot with a second left in the Falcons’ 79-77 victory over Columbia on Thursday.

“My dream has always been to play Division I basketball,” Mazurie said. “And I figured I’d have as good a chance to do it by coming to Cerritos and playing JC ball for a year as by going somewhere else.”

ROSY FORECAST

Ventura (33-5) had three sophomore starters on this season’s basketball team that advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament, but the Pirates should still be loaded with experience next season.

Starters Stephane Brown and Michael Tate will return along with reserves Donyhel Johnson, Maurice Smith, Jason Liebl, Jabari Anderson and D’Mitri Rideout, all of whom got extensive playing time.

Tate was an undersized 6-5 center but he led the Pirates in scoring and rebounding in postseason play, averaging 14.6 points and 11.8 rebounds.

Brown, a 6-2 guard, was the team’s second-leading scorer with a 14.0 average.

STATWATCH

First baseman Tamara Ivie leads the Matadors’ softball team in batting average (.346) and runs batted in (17). Beth Calcante and Missy Cress are second in RBIs with 15 each, and Calcante is second in batting average (.315). . . .

Kathy Blake leads the Matadors with a 12-3 record and an 0.81 earned-run average. In last weekend’s tournament in Bakersfield, Blake threw a one-hitter against Cal State Sacramento and a two-hitter against Hawaii. . . .

Pacific’s Lea Lopez, formerly of Newbury Park High, threw a no-hitter against Northridge last weekend in the Bakersfield softball tournament. . . .

Several Northridge volleyball players are ranked in the top 20 in various categories in the latest NCAA statistics. Ken Lynch is fourth in kills average (6.5) and tied for 19th in hitting percentage (.386). . . .

Coley Kyman is tied for 16th in kills (4.7 average) and tied with Lynch in hitting percentage. Axel Hager is seventh in service ace percentage (.429) and 14th in dig average per game (4.8). . . .

Kyman, a junior, is second in school history with 357 blocks, including seven in the Matadors’ win over Pepperdine on Tuesday. The career leader is Raphael Tulino with 465 from 1988-91.

Ron Twersky and staff writers Theresa Munoz and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.