Unhappy Northridge Softball Player Quits

Unhappy with her limited playing time this season, senior outfielder Kari Hazlett quit the Cal State Northridge softball team on Monday, Coach Janet Sherman said.

“She wasn’t happy with her role,” Sherman said. “She wanted to contribute more, but her production was such that we had to get the people in who were productive. She had to do what was right for herself.”

Reached at home Wednesday, Hazlett had no comment.

Northridge (14-6), 10th-ranked in preseason polls, has climbed to No. 6 in the coaches’ top-25 poll.

Without Hazlett, the Matadors are down to 13 players, three of whom are pitchers.

“We can do it with 13,” Sherman said.

Hazlett, who was used primarily as a pinch-runner last year, started 12 of the Matadors’ 20 games. She had five hits in 33 at-bats and scored five runs. Hazlett’s .152 batting average was second-to-last among players with 10 or more starts.

Football

Grant High’s Di-Onte Smith signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play football at Montana, Grant Coach Bill Foster said.

Smith, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound tailback and defensive back, rushed for 1,553 yards and 18 touchdowns last season and ranked fifth among area City Section backs. He averaged 7.6 yards a carry in two seasons.

Simi Valley football Coach Roger McCamy is looking for a wide receivers/defensive backs coach.

Information: 805-520-6850.

Golf

Three area country clubs have been selected as qualifying sites for prestigious United States Golf Assn. tournaments this summer.

On June 5, Valencia Country Club in Santa Clarita will play host to a sectional U.S. Open qualifier. The Open will be held June 15-18 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Course in Southhampton, N.Y.

On June 19, Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley will host a qualifier for the U.S. Senior Amateur, which is scheduled June 20 through July 2 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

On July 31, Wood Ranch and Crystalaire Country Club in Llano will host qualifiers for the U.S. Amateur Championship, to be held Aug. 22-27 at two courses in Newport, R.I.

Steve Holmes, a graduate of Newbury Park High, finished with a three-round total of even-par 216 to win the individual title this week at the Aldila/Callaway Collegiate Classic at Carmel Mountain Ranch Golf Course in San Diego.

Holmes won by four shots and led UC Irvine to a seven-shot lead in the team competition. Shane O’Brien of Cal State Northridge finished in a three-way tie for sixth at 224. Northridge (923) finished tied for ninth in a field of 18 teams.

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* Contributing: Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Paige A. Leech.