Matadors Start Anew : Sherman Expecting Northridge Softball to Remain Strong

That brassy, hard-hitting bunch who made Cal State Northridge an NCAA Division I softball powerhouse is gone.

And with them went Gary Torgeson, the former football-turned-softball coach who retired in July after guiding the Matadors to four NCAA Division II titles and eight national championship appearances in 13 years.

It’s the dawn of a new era at Northridge. For the most part, the Matadors are starting over. New coach, new team--and indubitably a new image.

They debut this weekend at Northridge with nonconference doubleheaders against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday and Cal State Fullerton on Sunday.

The Matadors’ future rests squarely on the shoulders of first-year Coach Janet Sherman, who begins her inaugural campaign after a three-year stint as Torgeson’s top assistant. Torgeson is now athletic director at Sacramento City College.

Although Northridge lost 10 players--including eight starters--from a team that finished runner-up to Arizona in the Women’s College World Series last year, it isn’t all doom and gloom for Sherman.

In fact, some actually think the Matadors are still contenders. Northridge is ranked 10th by College Sports Magazine.

“That’s a good place for us,” Sherman said. “If we hadn’t been ranked at all--if you want to go that extreme--then the team would have come in with more of an underdog look and said, ‘Hey, we showed them.’ And it would have been easier.”

But the ranking seems a bit unjustified, given the losses the program has suffered. With the exception of two returning pitchers, a pair of catchers and an infielder who started in only 28 of 62 games and batted .203 last year, the Matadors are inexperienced and untested.

The Matadors also lost two projected starters because of injuries suffered in a car crash in December and will begin the season with a 14-player roster. Northridge had 19 players last season and has had as many as 25 in years past.

But none of that matters much to Sherman, who played on national championship teams at UCLA in 1984 and ’85.

“Everybody’s saying that we’re down to 14,” Sherman said, “(but) I told (the team) . . .’We’re not gonna talk about only having 14 (players) again. I don’t want to hear it.’ I said, ‘I played at UCLA and we only had 14 and we won a national championship.’ ”

The team goal is to return to the World Series for the third consecutive year. Improbable? Perhaps. Just staying in the rankings would be something for the Matadors to hang their visors on.

But Sherman’s confidence is bolstered by a solid pitching staff, one she calls “one of the best in the nation.” Kathy Blake-Small, a senior who married former Northridge baseball player Andy Small in December, and junior Jen Richardson, both junk-ball pitchers, will give the Matadors a chance to be successful.

“Kathy Blake has been tremendous this last three weeks,” Sherman said. “She’s gonna be the key. And Jen Richardson is just a natural leader.”

Sherman said Blake-Small, a third-team All-American as a sophomore, is fired up for her final collegiate season. She finished 17-7 with 12 shutouts and a 0.51 earned-run average last season.

Richardson, a right-hander who earned the start--and the loss--in the national championship game against Arizona, will rarely leave the lineup. When she isn’t pitching, she will be patrolling the outfield.

Veterans Scia Maumausolo and Jennifer Parker will share the catching duties and will also be used in the outfield. Maumausolo, a first-team All-American as a freshman, will bat cleanup and is expected to carry the load offensively. Maumausolo hit .288 with seven home runs and 44 runs batted in last season. Parker hit .394 in 32 starts.

Junior third baseman Kelly Toovey, senior outfielder Kari Hazlett and senior infielder Lee Ann Taylor are returning letter-winners with limited experience who are chomping at the bit to maintain Northridge’s national prominence.

There are a seven newcomers, three junior college transfers and four freshmen.

Among the most promising is junior transfer Jamie Herrington, whose maiden name is Dean. At Hart High, Herrington amassed 190 hits, second best in Southern Section history.

Herrington attended Hawaii for one semester but returned to Valencia and took a year off from softball. She returned at College of the Canyons and was All-Western State Conference after batting nearly 400.