Naster’s No-Hit Feeling Lingers Into Next Day

For Jeff Naster, the magnitude of the event didn’t really register until a day later.

“I was happier about it (Friday) when it finally sunk in,” Naster said.

Naster, a sophomore right-hander at Moorpark College, had reason to smile after pitching a no-hitter in an 8-0 victory over Oxnard in a Western State Conference North Division game Thursday at Moorpark.

The former Thousand Oaks High pitcher struck out five and had a perfect game through six innings before walking three batters. He was in command throughout the game and said he knew all along that the Condors hadn’t touched him for a hit.

“The first five innings, everything was working pretty much the way I wanted it,” said Naster (7-2), who has been the Raiders’ ace all season. “I was hitting my spots too. They hit some solid ground balls but not too many guys pulled the ball out of the infield.”

Naster, 20, said he tried to keep his mind on other things besides the no-hitter late in the game.

“From the seventh through the ninth inning, I tried to talk to my teammates about anything,” Naster said.

It was the first solo no-hitter for Naster at any level of competition, although he and Pierce left-hander Adam West combined on one at the age of 12 in the Conejo Valley Little League. The two also played together on the 1992 Newbury Oaks American Legion team that won the Legion World Series.

“This might have topped the Legion championship,” said Naster, who pitched a shutout in the Legion title game. “There, I thought we could beat anybody because we had a really strong team, but this was against Oxnard, at a higher caliber of competition.”

Brother Act

Messing with the Barbers has become a double-edged sword for Cal Lutheran’s baseball opponents.

Tim Barber, a senior right-hander, pitches the middle innings. He is 1-1 with a 4.50 earned-run average in 16 innings. Andrew, his sophomore brother, closes games.

“They’re hilarious,” Kingsmen Coach Marty Slimak said. “They argue and fight, but when the game starts they really back each other up. When one or the other is pitching out there, everything else stops. They’re so supportive of each other.”

Andrew, who complements a mid-80s fastball with a hard breaking pitch, has become the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s premier closer. In conference games, he has not allowed an earned run in 18 innings, allowing six hits--all singles--with 22 strikeouts and two walks.

Overall for the season, Andrew is 3-0 with three saves. In 28 innings he has allowed 10 hits with 27 strikeouts and nine walks. He has an earned-run average of 0.33 and has stranded 20 inherited runners.

“We knew Andy could pitch, but it’s surprised us the type of season he’s having,” Slimak said.

Well, after Andrew’s debut, not much else he’s done should have been much of a surprise. In Cal Lutheran’s SCIAC opener Feb. 12, Barber pitched a seven-inning perfect game against Caltech.

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The SCIAC’s first postseason baseball tournament might also be the conference’s last.

As it stands, the conference’s top four teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament May 6-7, while the circuit’s bottom half does the same. The prize for the winners? Nothing.

“It’s really kind of meaningless,” Slimak said. “All it does is give us two more games.”

The original idea was for the league to have separate regular-season and tournament champions, but the idea has fizzled. The regular-season champion will advance to the NCAA playoffs.

Actually, Cal Lutheran--which seems assured of being the SCIAC regular-season champion--might benefit from the arrangement. The Kingsmen will see two of the conference’s best teams, probably saving their best pitchers.

“If we’re fortunate enough to go to the regionals, it should help us prepare,” Slimak said.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

Hit, Run, Pitch

In a 2-1 victory over Hawaii last weekend, the Matadors managed only one hit in the last four innings. It was a ninth-inning triple, and the guy swinging the bat didn’t surprise Coach Bill Kernen.

It was pitcher Brian Vasey, who was trying to close out the victory.

“You just knew that had to happen,” Kernen said. “The guy’s got to run all the way to third, then try to close the door.”

Though he served up a triple to Hawaii in the bottom of the ninth, Vasey held on for the victory.

Around the Campuses. . .

* Oliver Heitmann, Northridge’s 6-7 middle blocker, ranks among NCAA volleyball leaders in three categories. Heitmann is sixth with a .460 attacking percentage, seventh with a 6.43 kill average and 11th with a 1.53 block average. Collin Smith is tied for fifth with a 2.60 digs average; and Peter Piexoto is tied for ninth with a 2.53 digs average.

* Mission second baseman John Toven, a freshman from Kennedy High, has not been thrown out in 18 steal attempts.

* Ivy Calvin threw a personal best of 170-0 in the men’s discus at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays to move into eighth on the all-time Matador list in that event. Calvin’s previous best was 166-9.

* Shannon Jones, a senior third baseman on the Northridge softball team, has clubbed a career-high 10 home runs, including a stretch of five in 10 at-bats. Jones (.427) also leads the team with eight doubles and 33 runs batted in.

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Steve Elling, Mike Hiserman and Paige A. Leech contributed to this notebook.