Batesole Calls Roll, Gets Some Negative Replies

In his first day back in the saddle, Mike Batesole called his players and let them know straight from the horse’s mouth that the Cal State Northridge baseball team is back in business.

Reaction was decidedly mixed.

Some players were elated, others guarded and two turned the coach down flat.

Batesole explained to them that an expected $586,000 from the state will enable baseball--and three other men’s sports--to be reinstated for one year. He went on to say that a task force is being formed to study ways to keep the program going permanently.

But these are the same players crushed June 11 at the news the program was eliminated, and they have spent the last month desperately searching for new schools. Batesole couldn’t blame them for feeling a bit queasy at believing this latest turn on the roller-coaster ride.

“It’s a scary thing for them,” he said on Tuesday. “They put a lot into the school, then they had their hearts ripped out. I’ve been trying to get them into other schools for a month, and now I’m telling them to put the brakes on that.”

Terrmel Sledge, an outfielder who batted .392 last season and is playing in the Cape Cod summer league, told Batesole he will stick with his plan to transfer to Cal State Long Beach.

Right-handed pitcher Dan Martinez, a recruit from Oxnard College, will attend UC Santa Barbara.

Senior pitchers Erasmo Ramirez and Benny Flores, who asked Northridge for releases a few days before the program was cut and transferred to Cal State Fullerton, are not expected back.

But a group of strong freshmen as well as recruits were excited about the prospect of playing together at Northridge. It will beat playing at a junior college, which many of them were resigned to doing.

“I think we had something strong going and I want to continue playing baseball with my Northridge teammates,” said outfielder Dan Pierce, who will be a sophomore. “I’ll contact the other guys and see what they are going to do.”

Pierce, however, added that the uncertainty of the past month is not easily forgotten.

“I’m still very angry about it,” he said. “Even bringing the team back is a slap in the face. It proves it never should have been cut. We’d all be getting ready for the fall instead of scrambling. But we could turn it around.”

Batesole didn’t ask for immediate answers, telling the players to discuss options with their parents.

Patching together a roster is one of three tasks facing the coach. He also must find an assistant coach--Tim Montez has taken a position as an assistant at Arkansas--and come up with a schedule.

Most teams scheduled to play the Matadors have found new opponents. Northridge was to play in tournaments at Arizona State and Las Vegas but Batesole believes those spots have been filled.

“I’ve got to find out who has openings,” Batesole said. “We might spend a lot of time on the road.”

First baseman Adrian Mendoza, who batted .274 as a freshman last season, was resigned to going to a junior college. Now it appears he’s back in Division I.

“I’m excited to hear I’ll be with Batesole again,” he said. “I haven’t talked to my parents but my gut feeling is I will go back.

“Even if things aren’t the same, it’s Division I baseball. We’re going to win some games.”