Injury-Depleted CSUN Looking for Contreras to Shoulder Load

Marco Contreras is like the fabled Dutch kid who stuck his finger in the leaky dike.

Contreras’ right arm is all that’s stopping the floodwaters from sweeping the beleaguered Cal State Northridge pitching staff into the murky depths.

“Everybody’s going down,” Contreras said.

Everybody but Contreras.

Going once: Pitcher Keven Kempton was lost to elbow surgery and will miss the remainder of the season. Kempton won 10 games in 1993.

Going twice: Right-hander John Najar suffered a freak injury while pitching last weekend against San Diego State and also is out for the duration. Najar, who broke a bone in his right forearm, was the No. 3 starter.

Down for the third and last time? Not if Contreras can help it.

The senior right-hander from Azusa has become the most important Matador as the team entered a key three-game Western Athletic Conference series at Hawaii on Friday.

It’s only fitting that Contreras, the last ambulatory member of the original three-man starting rotation, will pitch in the series finale Sunday. It could be a finale with finality.

Northridge entered Friday night’s opener at Rainbow Stadium with an overall record of 18-19. Brian Vasey, an infielder who did not pitch until the recent injuries forced him to the mound, started for Northridge.

It was his third appearance of the season.

Northridge, still alive in the WAC West Division race, figures that using Contreras against Hawaii’s third-best starter increases the likelihood of winning at least once on the trip.

“Whatever happens in the first two,” Contreras said, “we need the third one.”

Contreras has become the focal point. Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said last week that the team’s playoff chances are next to nil if Contreras doesn’t win his four remaining starts.

“I can’t afford to lose any more,” Contreras said. “I’m going one pitch, one inning, one game at a time. Just bear it.”

He’s been a bear down the stretch, no question about it. In his last three appearances, Contreras is 2-0, has given up three earned runs and 20 hits over 22 innings. He is 3-1 against WAC competition.

Despite the occasional battle with inconsistency, Contreras is 5-4 with an earned-run average of 4.39 and has completed nine of 10 starts.

Hard as it is to believe, the Matadors are only one game behind WAC West leader San Diego State with 11 conference games remaining.

So far, it’s been win a few, lose a few, lose a few pitchers.

Kempton has been Contreras’ roommate for two years. Najar is Contreras’ roommate on the road. Everybody he hangs out with is up to their armpits in casts, sutures and bandages.

“I hope nobody takes this the wrong way, but I’m glad I’m still holding up,” Contreras said.

Contreras, 21, wants to hold up his end of the deal, and in his book, that means earning a postseason berth. In three seasons on the Gladstone High varsity, Contreras and his mates danced the playoff tango each year.

Same thing in his two years at Citrus College. As a junior at Northridge, the team made the NCAA postseason waltz for the third time in as many years at Division I.

There’s one more open spot on his dance card. Feet don’t fail him now.

Not to mention his arm.

“I don’t want to go home early,” he said. “This very well might be my last year of baseball.”