SIDELINES : Superstition Has Northridge Baseball Players Diving For Cover

Curse of the cover boy?

Each year, Cal State Northridge issues pocket schedules for their athletic teams. Typically, each program’s best returning player is featured in a color action photo on the back of the schedule.

It’s an honor, actually.

When it comes to the Matador baseball team, though, players aren’t exactly throwing elbows to get on the 1995 schedule, which will be issued this month. Nobody is more superstitious than ballplayers--but these guys have good reason.

Last season, right-hander Keven Kempton was pictured on the schedule. He blew out his right elbow and had major reconstructive surgery in midseason.

The year before, right-hander Steve Morales was the featured player. He also had elbow problems in his throwing arm and pitched all of 3 2/3 innings.

Even those who have already had their misfortunes aren’t interested. Shortstop Chad Thornhill broke a bone in his right elbow last year and missed the last month.

“Nobody wants any part of it,” said Thornhill, a senior from Fresno. “I already had my injury and I still want nothing to do with it.”

Northridge opens the season Jan. 27 at UC Riverside.

Great freeze out: Maury Neville, boys’ basketball coach at L.A. Baptist High, isn’t used to dealing with serious weather conditions. After all, games are played in heated gyms. And this is L.A.

But L.A. Baptist’s road game against Paraclete in Lancaster on Tuesday was postponed because of snow, a first in Neville’s 18 years as coach.

The storm that brought overnight rain to most of the area brought snow to the Antelope Valley, enough to keep Paraclete officials worried about transportation during L.A. Baptist’s 55-mile trek to the Lancaster school.

Paraclete canceled all after-school activities and sent students home early, perhaps a bit prematurely.

“You can’t even tell it snowed here. It all disappeared,” Paraclete Coach Allen Adams said Tuesday afternoon.

The teams are attempting to reschedule the game for later this week.

Trading places: Mark Drucker, boys’ basketball coach at Taft High, was Taft girls’ coach last season, but switched jobs with longtime boys’ coach Jim Woodard.

Drucker was asked about the difference in coaching the two teams.

“The girls were more willing to learn and don’t assume they know as much as the coach,” he said. “The guys are much more outspoken and will offer much more input than the girls.

“I’m enjoying it,” said Drucker, whose team is 6-5. “We’re playing hard and have a good attitude on the court. I don’t think a coach can ask for any more.”

Oak Park pines: Last season, the Oak Park boys’ basketball won 13 of its first 14 games, finished 22-3 and played in the Southern Section Division IV-A final.

This season, the Eagles are 4-7 after finishing seventh in the Santa Paula tournament--which they won last year. This despite seven returning lettermen, including senior guard Sean Williams, the Tri-Valley League’s most valuable player last season.

“People are beginning to ask,” Coach Rob Hall said. “I’ve been doing a lot of explaining lately.”

Super sophomore: In his first season on the varsity team, Birmingham sophomore David Redmond leads the team in scoring (13.5 points), rebounding (10.3) and shoe size (19, according to Coach Al Bennett).

“He’s got a tremendous future,” Bennett said of the 6-foot-5, 205-pound Redmond. “He’s very good physically and has the kind of body that will really grow.”

Honors

Montclair Prep High senior outfielder Darrell Dent is listed 20th in Baseball America magazine’s top 100 high school prospects for the 1995 amateur draft.

Chatsworth first baseman Jon Tucker (31st) and Quartz Hill pitcher Darrell Hussman (74th) also were listed. Tucker and Dent also are among a group of area players who were named to Collegiate Baseball’s preseason list of elite high school players.

Also included on the list were pitcher Tim Baron of Thousand Oaks, outfielder Brad Farlow of Crespi, outfielder Jeremy Seipel of Hart, pitcher Todd Singleton of Westlake and pitcher Brandon Hernandez of Saugus.

Hart stopper: Pitcher Gary Stephenson of College of the Canyons has been named to the California Community College Baseball Coaches Assn.’s preseason All-American team.

Stephenson is a sophomore right-hander from Hart High. Canyons is ranked 19th in the coaches’ state preseason poll, the only area team to make the top 20.

Statistics

The Crescenta Valley High boys’ basketball team is 15-0, its best record since 1992-93, when the Falcons were 11-0 before losing.

The Falcons have some work left before threatening the school record. Crescenta Valley was 29-0 in 1970-71 before losing to Verbum Dei in the Southern Section major division championship game.

Things to do

The Ventura College men’s basketball team, ranked No. 1 in the state, plays Long Beach, the defending state champion, Thursday at Long Beach at 7:30 p.m.

Long Beach defeated Ventura in last year’s state final.

Contributing: Kennedy Cosgrove, Fernando Dominguez, Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick and Michael Lazarus.