She batted her way to Southern Section...

She batted her way to Southern Section player-of-the-year honors at Buena High. Now she appears to be pounding her way to NCAA All-American laurels at Fresno State.

She has always been a good hitter. But good has never been good enough for Kim Maher--not even now when her numbers suggest greatness.

“I haven’t surprised myself,” said Maher, a junior shortstop. “I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied. I always think I can do better.”

Maher has hit a school-record 12 home runs this season and opened the week second in the nation in that category. Her .382 batting average is threatening Fresno State’s single-season mark (.372, Martha Noffsinger, 1990) and with 10 games left in the season, she is nine short of setting the record for runs batted in (49, Gina LoPiccolo, 1990).

She leads the Bulldogs in hits (58), runs (36), total bases (107), RBIs (41), home runs (12), extra-base hits (18) and walks (18).

Talk about All-American honors doesn’t faze Maher, either.

“I think it’s really political and I don’t even have a chance,” she said. “I think there are other players out there who are doing just as well or even better.”

Statistically, however, Maher is tough to top. She has put herself in good company at Fresno State.

With her home run at Utah last Saturday, Maher (109) eclipsed Gena Strang for second place on the school’s career RBI list (108). Strang was a three-time All-American. Noffsinger and LoPiccolo, whose records Maher currently threatens, also were All-Americans.

Despite a .322 average and 36 RBIs last year, Maher said, she was hungry to improve only because Fresno State came so close to winning the College World Series last season. The Bulldogs lost to Arizona, 1-0, in the semifinals in Oklahoma City. Maher made the all-tournament team.

She is hard-pressed to explain this year’s disappointing record. The Bulldogs are 30-19 and haven’t lost that many games since 1984. They stand in third place in the Western Athletic Conference behind Cal State Northridge (13-1) and Cal State Sacramento (13-3) with a 10-8 conference record. Fresno State will play doubleheaders at San Diego State on Friday and Northridge on Saturday.

The Bulldogs face the possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time in the history of the program.

“It’s been a frustrating year,” she said, “but there have been a lot of good times. And it’s not over. In fact. . . . I’ll talk to you when we get to the World Series.”

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Sudden Sam: New Mexico State point guard Sam Crawford (Moorpark College) will soon have more in common with Tyrone Bogues of the Charlotte Hornets and Tim Hardaway of the Golden State Warriors than the fact each stands under six feet. Like Bogues and Hardaway before him, Crawford (5-foot-8) has won the Francis Pomeroy Naismith Award, given to the best college basketball player under 6-0.

Crawford led the NCAA with 310 assists during the 1992-93 season, averaging 9.1 a game, and led the Aggies to a 25-7 season that concluded in the second round of the NCAA tournament. He averaged 12.8 points and finished with a school-record 592 assists in two seasons. One of the players Crawford beat out for the award was former Cleveland High standout Adonis Jordan of Kansas.

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Checking the fax: Quincy University’s signing of College of the Canyons basketball player Rasaan Hall Tuesday represents another link in a chain that joins Quincy and Canyons. Hall was recruited by Quincy assistant Jeff Dunlap (North Hollywood/Pierce), a former assistant at Canyons. Last year, Dunlap brought former Cougars Reggie Bell and David Langley to Quincy. The Valley connection was started by Quincy Coach Steve Hawkins, former Ventura College coach. . . .

In baseball, Stanford left-hander Andrew Lorraine (Hart) broke a team slump with a complete-game victory over Arizona State on Saturday. Lorraine (7-4, 4.10 ERA) gave up six hits, struck out six and yielded two earned runs in a 5-3 victory that was televised live on ESPN. Stanford (8-16) is last in the Pac-10’s Six Pac Division. Arizona (17-10) is first.