Troubled Cook Sits, Vows Not to Quit Baseball Team

Although Keyaan Cook’s turbulent college baseball career has taken another turn for the worse, he vowed Saturday that he will not quit the Cal State Northridge team.

“I can’t quit,” Cook said. “I can’t quit. I’ve done too much. I’m not gonna let him (CSUN Coach Bill Kernen) take my dream away. Everybody else has tried.”

Cook, the Matadors’ designated hitter through the first 11 games, has not played since March 6 when he threw his helmet during a loss to Cal State Sacramento.

After breaking up a no-hitter in the seventh inning then getting the Matadors’ fourth hit of the game in the ninth, Cook was replaced by pinch-runner Jonathan Campbell, a player with more speed.

In a move he regrets, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior threw his helmet upon returning to the dugout.

“He (Kernen) felt that I was kinda showing him up,” Cook said. “So he said he’s taking 20 at-bats and five games from me. Also, he wants to get some other people into the lineup.”

Although the five games are up Tuesday when Northridge plays at UCLA, Cook is not sure he will play against the Bruins, and Kernen has not revealed a timetable for Cook’s return.

It is not the first time Cook has been sidelined.

After winning all-state honors twice at Montclair Prep, he hit .276 in 24 games as a Louisiana State freshman. But midway through what proved to be an NCAA championship season, Cook lost his starting position.

As a sophomore, he was beaten out for the starting second-base position by freshman All-American Todd Walker and was limited to 32 at-bats, prompting his transfer to Northridge.

Cook got off to a rocky start last fall when he was unable to run three miles in the requisite 22 minutes, costing him the opportunity to bat against live pitching and to play in intrasquad scrimmages.

Cook persevered, completed the run in time and tried to earn the starting second base position in January, which ultimately went to Chris Olsen.

“Every time I get a little comfortable it gets pulled away from me,” said Cook, who is hitting .317, second-best on the team. “The last three years I have been in and out of the lineup.”

Kernen has downplayed the situation, saying that he and Cook are adjusting to each other’s styles.