CSUN’S Torgeson to Quit, Take Sacramento Job : College softball: Matador coach planning to leave after 30-year affiliation with school.

Gary Torgeson, the winningest coach in Cal State Northridge history, said Tuesday that he plans to leave the school and accept an offer to become a dean at Sacramento City College.

Torgeson, who has been Northridge’s softball coach the past 13 seasons and led the Matadors to the Women’s College World Series final last month, will assume his post in the health, physical education and recreation department in August, pending the endorsement of Sacramento’s board of trustees at a July 20 meeting.

Approval for the hire is considered a formality, but Torgeson said Tuesday afternoon that he would not comment on the situation until his hiring becomes official.

“There are too many things up in the air,” he said.

However, earlier in the day Torgeson confirmed that he has been offered the position and that he has conditionally accepted, news that shocked one top returning player.

“You’re kidding,” said pitcher Kathy Blake, a 1993 All-American who has a year of eligibility remaining.

Pausing to compose herself while fighting back tears, Blake added: “I’m sorry. I’m a little upset right now.”

Torgeson, 51, had 644 coaching victories at Northridge--eight in three seasons as the school’s head football coach and 636 in 13 years with the Matador softball team. Including his time as a student and assistant coach, he has been associated with Northridge the past 30 years.

“What separated Gary from the rest is that he’s been a great judge of talent, a great recruiter and a coach who knows the type of athlete he wants in his program, and has been able to go out and find them,” said Bob Hiegert, Northridge’s athletic director. “He’s done just a great job.”

One of Torgeson’s most successful softball campaigns was his last. In only its fourth NCAA Division I season, Northridge posted a record of 52-10, won its second consecutive Western Athletic Conference championship and finished second in the nation, losing, 4-0, to top-ranked Arizona in the NCAA Division I title game.

Football was Torgeson’s first love. An offensive lineman, he was the Matadors’ first four-year football letterman and, by age 31, was the school’s fourth head coach.

Even after being fired from that position, Torgeson chose to remain on the football staff as offensive line coach, a position he held until taking over the softball program in 1982.

The softball program’s immediate success helped ease the bitter disappointment Torgeson experienced after failing as football coach.

“We’ve made an impact,” Torgeson said recently, the day after the Matadors downed Cal State Fullerton in the West Regional final before a large and boisterous crowd at Northridge. “Finally I feel like maybe I’ve left a notch here for the university.”

Torgeson’s softball teams won or shared nine consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships from 1982-90. At the NCAA Division II level, the Matadors won four national championships and placed worse than third in the nation only once during that span.

Northridge’s winning ways continued with barely a pause once the school stepped up to Division I competition. The Matadors had a 34-32 record in 1991, a 45-25 mark in ‘92, then made their first trip to Oklahoma City for softball’s World Series during a 48-9-1 campaign the following season.

Torgeson’s softball players had a reputation for being as tough and brash as they were talented.

“Gary likes to win, and he was willing to do whatever it took to do it,” said Marjorie Wright, coach at Fresno State, Northridge’s rival.

Northridge will not begin a search for another coach until Sacramento officially hires Torgeson.

“We can’t go forward until he gets that rubber stamp,” Hiegert said.

Whoever takes over for him, the old coach will be missed. “He put a lot of trust and belief in me,” said Blake, whom Torgeson discovered at tiny Paso Robles High.

Janet Sherman, Northridge’s top assistant, is expected to be among those receiving close consideration for the job.

Meanwhile, Tim Kiernan, Sacramento City’s softball coach and a longtime friend of Torgeson, said a group of coaches is eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new boss.

“He’s done so much for Northridge over the years,” Kiernan said. “Shoot, everything he’s done has been tremendous. The staff here is sure excited about having him. Gary is so high energy. That’s something our department needs.”