Clearing Wall at CSUN Will Take Panes

Attention FEMA folks: You may soon be doling out money for damages inflicted on buildings adjacent to Cal State Northridge’s baseball field.

Much of the Northridge campus was rocked by the recent quake, and the school has erected several temporary classrooms in a grass field located beyond the right-field wall at Matador Field. The way baseballs traditionally rocket out of the Northridge yard, this could get ugly.

“There are windows facing the field,” Jason Shanahan said. “We’ll take care of those if they ever let us play at home.”

Shanahan is one of four regulars who switch-hit or bat left-handed. Barring additional quake-related delays or developments, Northridge is scheduled to make its home debut Feb. 19 against Cal State Fullerton.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

Close Quarters

The gang’s all here.

Depending on the day, that is.

Because of earthquake damage to the apartments and dorm rooms of several baseball players, one domicile has become the destination of the displaced.

On a given day, Chad Thornhill, Andy Shaw, Jason Van Heerde, Steve Moreno, Eric Gillespie, Jonathan Campbell and Shanahan can be found staying in the same apartment.

Though some players come and go--school is not in session and some players periodically stay at their parents’ homes--the apartment is nonetheless cramped.

How small is it?

“Two bedrooms,” Shanahan said.

*

Shanahan, a junior first baseman and the team’s cleanup hitter, came out of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo series with four hits in 11 at-bats. Yet nobody had to remind him that as the No. 4 hitter and a three-year letterman, he is expected to drive in runs.

In that capacity, he didn’t fare as well. All of his hits came with the bases empty or while leading off an inning. Overall, Shanahan came to bat with 12 runners on base and six in scoring position. The only time he advanced a runner was when he was hit by a pitch. He didn’t drive in a run.

“I took the same hitting approach (with runners on base),” he said. “That’s baseball. It’s frustrating.”

*

Campbell’s banged-up left foot wasn’t feeling much better early this week, leaving the left fielder’s availability uncertain entering games this weekend with UCLA and Cal State San Bernardino.

Campbell incurred the injury while slamming into the plywood outfield fence as he attempted to run down a pair of triples off the bat of San Luis Obispo designated hitter Rob Neal.

“No splinters, but I sure hurt myself,” said Campbell, a junior.

Plywood was definitely preferable to the alternative at Northridge--a cinder-block wall.

“At least it was wooden and not concrete,” Campbell said. “It could have been worse.”

*

Northridge’s 0-3 start isn’t the worst in Coach Bill Kernen’s six seasons at Northridge. In fact, the last time the Matadors stumbled out of the gate, things didn’t turn out badly at all.

In 1992, they started 0-4 . . . then won 29 of 31 and climbed into the national top 10.

*

What do Shaw and Angel left-hander Joe Magrane have in common?

Both players were operated on Tuesday by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Inglewood.

Shaw, a sophomore first baseman, had surgery on his left knee and is expected to be sidelined for several months. Magrane had surgery on his pitching elbow and isn’t expected to begin throwing for two months.

*

Northridge basketball players and coaches aren’t exactly overjoyed about having to play a home game against Northeastern Illinois tonight at Pepperdine instead of in their own school gym.

It does, however, beat either alternative: canceling the game or playing Northeastern Illinois at its gym in Chicago.

“This is something out of the ordinary for them, but it’s just one more thing,” Coach Pete Cassidy said of his players. “For this team, there is no ordinary. We’re just taking the cards as they’re dealt.”

There will be no admission charge for the game at Pepperdine.

*

Northridge lost to 18th-ranked California by 30 points, but if Cassidy had altered his substitution pattern the Matadors might have cut that deficit in half.

Instead of keeping his regulars in for the game’s last seven or eight minutes, Cassidy turned to his bench even before Cal Coach Todd Bozeman emptied his.

Cassidy said that giving game time to his reserves was more important than trying to make the final score more respectable.

“I wasn’t throwing in the towel,” Cassidy said, “but they were leading by 20 and I didn’t see that changing much. I’m going to give my guys all the good game experience I can if I’m going to expect them to play for us next year.”

JUNIOR COLLEGES

Streak Busters

The Ventura women’s team saw its 39-game winning streak in Western State Conference play end in a 52-51 loss to Oxnard last week.

“They (Oxnard) came out ready to kick our butts and accomplished their goal,” Ventura Coach Ned Mircetic said.

Ventura shook it off in a hurry. Last Saturday, the Pirates trounced Moorpark, 78-36. Mircetic said the streak-breaking defeat served a purpose.

“Now we can refocus on the things we were doing before the loss,” Mircetic said.

*

Despite a dwindling roster, the Antelope Valley men’s basketball team is hanging tough in the Foothill Conference race.

The Marauders, who were 16-11 and 9-4 in conference play before Wednesday’s game against Barstow, have lost four players from their original 12-man roster but were tied for second place in the conference with Rio Hondo.

“We are down to 7 1/2 players,” Coach Newton Chelette said. “Our point guard (Troy Coutee) has been playing with strained ligaments in a knee.”

Coutee, a 5-11 freshman from Antelope Valley High, is the latest casualty. He suffered the injury on Jan. 15.

Guards Damon Boyd and David Garner and centers David Daviss and Mark Hennager left the team earlier for various reasons.

Chelette said Boyd, a freshman from Washington High, was homesick. Daviss enlisted in the military, and Hennager transferred to a four-year school, although not to play basketball. Garner didn’t return from Christmas vacation.

“I think it made us a better team,” Chelette said. “The guys came together as a team. . . . It’s been tough but we don’t think about it. We just keep on ticking as best we can.”

*

Ventura point guard Joey Ramirez, who underwent cartilage surgery Monday on his right knee, is hoping to return for the WSC North Division season finale against Oxnard on Feb. 19.

But Pirate Coach Philip Mathews says Ramirez most likely won’t see action until the Southern California regionals on Feb. 26.

“That’s Joey. He wants to get back,” Mathews said. “He is already rehabilitating the knee.”

Ramirez was injured against Moorpark on Jan. 24 but continued to play through last Saturday with a brace. He also rode a stationary bike at the end of the Ventura bench during warm-ups.

“He used (the bike) the last couple of games,” Mathews said. “If he sat down for a long period of time, his knee stiffened up.”

*

Former Moorpark running back Gil Carrillo is continuing his quest for a spot on a Canadian Football League team.

Carrillo, 5-11 and 195 pounds, had a tryout last month with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers but was not offered a contract. He still hopes to hear from the club.

“It went real well,” Carrillo said. “One of their people told me he didn’t know why they hadn’t signed me right then and there.”

While he waits for a possible call from Winnipeg, Carrillo is lining up more tryouts with other CFL teams. He has been in contact with the Las Vegas, San Antonio and Hamilton franchises. Many of the teams, he said, will hold combines between March and May.

The Winnipeg tryout, which emphasized speed tests, prompted him to alter his workouts.

“I’ve changed my training a lot,” Carrillo said. “I’m concentrating more on speed work and endurance instead of working so much in the weight room.”

The former Simi Valley High standout, who rushed for 2,287 yards in his two seasons at Moorpark, doesn’t have any college eligibility remaining. He attended Cal State Northridge on a track scholarship two years before transferring to Moorpark.

THE MASTER’S

A Cheer for Oates

Coach Mel Hankinson compiled a 99-68 record--including three consecutive 20-win seasons--during his five-year stint at Master’s, but first-year Coach Bill Oates has managed to become more popular at the Newhall school than his predecessor.

Before Saturday night’s 84-75 victory over Biola, the school honored Oates’ 600th career victory, which came earlier this season against Cal State Los Angeles. As Oates entered Bross Gymnasium, the standing-room crowd began to chant, “Oates, Oates, Oates!”

The chanting stopped long enough for Master’s President John MacArthur to summarize the highlights of Oates’ coaching career, but it began again when Oates’ wife and three children were introduced.

“The students are really behind us here,” a typically subdued Oates said after Master’s improved to 22-3. “It’s nice to have that type of support.”

*

If teams reflect their coaches’ personalities, then Master’s is a case in point.

Under the animated, swaggering Hankinson, the Mustangs were a team that played in streaks. With the unassuming, composed Oates on the sidelines, they have been a model of consistency.

“We’ve been conscious about being ready to play every game this season,” Oates said. “We haven’t had a lot of letdowns this year.”

*

Cal State Northridge has the Matamaniacs, but a group of students at Master’s called the Blue Zoo might top them for overall zaniness and vocal support at basketball games.

Although most zoo members are decked out in wild clothing, wigs, sunglasses and blue, white and yellow makeup, another dresses as an official.

When a referee makes a questionable call against the Mustangs, the zoo erupts in chants of “sub, sub, sub” while the zoo zebra raises his hand as if he’s about to come in from the sidelines.

*

How loud was the crowd at Saturday’s Biola-Master’s game?

Several spectators--including one sportswriter who has covered previous Biola-Master’s affairs--showed wearing earplugs.

Others did not, including another sportswriter who left Bross Gymnasium with a slight ringing in his ears.

Around the Campuses . . .

* Andre Chevalier, who has led the Northridge basketball team in scoring in four of its past five games, has moved into fourth place on the school’s career scoring list. The 6-0 senior has 1,176 points--28 shy of third-place Jerry Joseph, who played from 1967-70, and 125 back of record-holder Jim Malkin, who played from 1959-62. Chevalier is averaging 13.2 points a game. He needs to average just under 18 points in the Matadors’ last seven games to pass Malkin.

* The Antelope Valley men’s basketball team was leading the Foothill Conference in margin of victory before Wednesday’s games, winning by an average of 11.6 points. The Marauders were averaging 93.4 points and giving up 81.8. Chaffey (99.2 and 87.7) was second at 11.5.

* With a 22-3 record and an 11-game winning streak, Master’s moved to 14th in the NAIA Division I poll after being 21st last week and 24th the week before--its first top 25 ranking.

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Steve Elling, Mike Hiserman and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.