Infielder Is Happy With College Choice--Now : Baseball: Former Covina High standout Mike Solar is now a star at CS Northridge. But in 1988 he was underwhelmed by the school’s offer.

Mike Solar wasn’t exactly turning somersaults the first time Cal State Northridge baseball Coach Bill Kernen called him during the summer of 1988.

Solar had recently completed a successful high school baseball career at Covina, where he helped lead the Colts to the 1988 Southern Section 4-A Division championship. He was playing shortstop for a local Connie Mack team at a tournament in Hawaii when Kernen called. Solar had yet to receive a scholarship offer from USC, Cal State Fullerton or any other university in Southern California, but at least he knew they existed.

Cal State Northridge? The San Fernando Valley?

“I really hadn’t heard of the place,” Solar said. “I didn’t know where Northridge was.”

Four years later, Solar has helped put Northridge on the college baseball map.

Solar, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound infielder, has been a four-year starter for the Matadors, who made the jump from NCAA Division II to Division I last season and are ranked 18th in the nation this week by Baseball America magazine. He is playing first and third base after starting for three seasons at shortstop and is batting .291 with a team-leading 13 home runs and 40 runs batted in.

“Mike didn’t jump out of his shoes like a tooth fairy was giving him a full ride to Stanford when we first contacted him,” said Kernen, a former assistant at Fullerton and Illinois who has built Northridge into a national power in four seasons. “But I think he is pretty happy with the way things have worked out for him.

“We told him he would have a chance to help us build something here, and he has done that by improving his performance every season.”

Solar was part of Kernen’s first recruiting class, which produced, among others, All-American pitcher/utility man Craig Clayton, who is playing in the Seattle Mariner organization. That group of players helped Northridge finish second at the Division II World Series in Montgomery, Ala., in 1990.

Last season, the Matadors’ first as a Division I independent, Northridge lost in the ninth inning to Fresno State in the West I regional.

“I watch the College World Series every year on TV, but I really had a hard time last year,” said Solar, who batted .246 with seven homers and 41 RBIs in 1991. “It really got to me quite a bit last summer. It made me work harder to get ready for this season.”

Although he started from the first inning of his freshman season, Solar was initially unprepared for collegiate competition. He batted .289 with three homers and 24 RBIs in 1989 as Northridge finished 30-19-1.

“There were some times when I was a little intimidated, like when we went and played at Arizona State, USC and other places where there were all these people watching,” he said. “It was a different atmosphere than high school baseball.”

As a sophomore, Solar batted .283 with nine home runs and 34 RBIs. He was named to the all-tournament team at the Division II World Series, where Northridge lost to Jacksonville in the championship game.

It was clear that the Matadors had the potential to make an immediate impact at the Division I level, but Solar said there still was some preseason doubt.

“I think it was just a little bit of not really knowing what to expect,” he said. “But we started the season with a lot of games on the road and came out of that streak 13-6. We got a pretty good feeling that we could play with those guys.”

Northridge went on to finish 44-18-1, and the players were left to ponder what might have been if the Matadors had reached the World Series.

Despite the loss of Clayton and All-American first baseman/pitcher Scott Sharts, Northridge (33-9-1) appears to be a lock for another playoff appearance this year. Pairings will be announced May 18, with play beginning the weekend of May 23-24 at eight regional sites.

Northridge players wore caps during the preseason that were inscribed with “Finish It Off,” a reference to their near-miss of a trip to the World Series in Omaha. Solar intends to do just that as he concludes his collegiate career.

“I trusted Kernen from Day 1 and never doubted that we would be good,” Solar said. “I came here to win a national championship and this team can do it.

“If we get to the World Series, get on TV and people start to recognize us, we may really make a name for this program. That’s something you can look back on and say, ‘Hey, I was a part of that building process.’ ”