Matadors Heed Baseball Coach’s Shake-Up Calls

When Cal State Northridge was trailing, 8-0, and then, 8-3, early Tuesday against fourth-ranked and defending national champion Pepperdine, Coach Bill Kernen held two rare between-innings meetings.

“The reason I did that was because it was such a shock,” Kernen said. “We got this thing set up as a big game and kaboom! It is one thing for them to score a couple runs in the first inning, but eight--wow!

“I wanted to shake them out of it early, not let a couple innings go by. I wanted to make sure we used every inning right now. We played it like every at-bat was the last at-bat in the ninth. That’s why guys were fouling off balls and looking the ball into the (catcher’s) glove.”

Joey Arnold, for example, led off the fourth by fouling off four pitches on a full count, then hitting a single to right. In the 10th, the former Pierce College and Reseda High standout tripled in the winning run of the Matadors’ 10-9 victory. . . .

Right-hander Keven Kempton is understandably concerned after being knocked out early in his last two starts, including the first inning Tuesday. He had been riding a streak of 12 complete games.

“Your whole future goes in front of your eyes,” he said. “I was on such a roll and now I can’t get out of the first inning. I’ve got a lot of soul-searching to do. Fortunately, with support from friends and my parents, I’ll get it back. I’ve got another chance in the regionals.”

Kempton and the rest of the pitching staff will have eight days’ rest before the NCAA regionals. Although berths won’t be conferred until Monday, the Matadors are preparing as though they will earn a spot.

Kempton plans to use the time to undergo treatment on his right elbow. He attributes its soreness to the rigors of a long season--he has thrown a team-high 110 2/3 innings--and slacking off on his running program, from 30 miles a week to 20.

Kempton (9-4) said he was guilty of the “Superman Syndrome.” He was pitching so well he thought he didn’t need to run as often or as far. . . .

Left fielder David Prosenko played a key role in the rally against Pepperdine and went three for five with a run batted in to raise his average to .281. He credits the 30-point boost in his average over the past three weeks to “a wake-up call”--a self-inflicted broken finger.

After popping out, Prosenko punched the dugout wall. The injury made him realize that he cannot lose his temper over a poor at-bat. . . .

JUNIOR COLLEGES

BASEBALL

Against all odds?

That’s what people must be saying in the aftermath of last weekend’s Southern California regionals that ended the Canyons, Pierce and Mission seasons, all in two forgettable days.

Canyons, seeded No. 2 in the regional, was swept by 15th-seeded Long Beach City in a best-of-three series at Valencia. Mission, seeded 13th, suffered the same indignity against No. 4 Chaffey in Alta Loma. And No. 14 Pierce won the middle game of its three-game set with No. 3 Harbor, which was small consolation.

“Hey, at least we won one, ha?” Pierce Coach Bob Lofrano said.

Canyons, the Western State Conference champion and one of the steady teams throughout the season, was betrayed by its defense. The Cougars committed nine errors in two games, won by Long Beach, 9-2 and 9-8.

For Mission, the Southern California Athletic Conference runner-up, the lack of pitching depth was too much to overcome. The Free Spirit relied heavily on right-handed submariner Josh Brown (11-3), who lost the opener against Chaffey, 2-1. The second game showed how much the Free Spirit needed Brown. Chaffey had 12 runs and 13 hits, Mission six runs.

Pierce also experienced pitching problems during the season, and they surfaced again in the team’s series at Harbor. In the three games, Brahma pitchers gave up 35 runs and 35 hits, including six home runs.

BASKETBALL

The Ventura College gymnasium was pretty much jammed for nearly every Pirate home game this season, but it’ll probably be an absolute madhouse on Aug. 28.

That’s when Sir Charles and some of his friends will be in town for the Cedric Ceballos alumni game.

Charles Barkley and Phoenix Suns teammates Kevin Johnson and Ceballos, the former Ventura star, will play in the game, Pirate Coach Philip Mathews said.

The players also will attend an auction of sports memorabilia and autograph-signing sessions at the school on Aug. 27. The alumni game and proceeds from the auction will benefit the Ventura basketball program and the Boys and Girls Club of Ventura.

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez and Theresa Munoz contributed to this notebook.