Cal Lutheran Makes Plans for Weekend Title Bash

Nobody has to tell Coach Marty Slimak what lies ahead for his Cal Lutheran baseball team.

“Basically, the entire conference season comes down to this weekend,” Slimak said.

Cal Lutheran, two-time defending Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, faces Redlands in a three-game series this week with the conference title at stake.

The Kingsmen, ranked No. 5 in Division III, lead the SCIAC with a 17-1 record, 2 1/2 games ahead of Redlands (13-2).

Two victories in the series that starts Friday at Redlands and concludes Saturday with a doubleheader in Thousand Oaks would give Cal Lutheran the title. Redlands has to make up three rained-out games with Claremont.

“We feel good about it offensively,” Slimak said. “We know we can pretty much hit with anybody. The biggest question is who is going to pitch.”

Both teams feature plenty of firepower.

The Kingsmen sport a .381 batting average with 52 home runs. Redlands is batting .359 with 28 home runs, including 10 by SCIAC leader Derek Bell.

“We have to be very, very careful with him,” Slimak said.

Slimak will make that point clear to his staff, which has the SCIAC’s best earned-run average at 4.72.

The average probably would be lower if ace right-hander Erik Kiszczak had not been sidelined much of the season because of elbow problems that only recently were diagnosed.

“We got the results of an MRI and they showed a tear in muscle near the [elbow] bone,” Slimak said.

“It doesn’t require surgery or anything like that, but he’s pretty much done for the season.”

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Cal State Northridge’s baseball record this season is nothing short of amazing, considering the obstacles the team had to overcome after the program was temporarily cut last summer.

The Matadors are 31-19 and had a school-record 16-game winning streak halted last week.

Former Northridge player Jose Miranda says he knows one of the main reasons for the team’s success.

“Two years ago, we were picked to finish sixth in the [Western Athletic Conference] and won it, and last year we weren’t supposed to be any good and we won 42 games,” said Miranda, a Matador outfielder in 1996 and 1997.

“They should start recognizing what a good coach [Mike] Batesole is. He gets you to buy into what he’s teaching.”

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Neither Cal Lutheran’s Jeff Shea nor any other punter was drafted by an NFL team last weekend, but Shea is getting plenty of interest as a free agent.

“He’s talking to about five teams,” Kingsmen Coach Scott Squires said. “He’ll get into a camp somewhere.”

Squires said the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Giants are showing the most interest.

Shea, 6 feet 4 and 210 pounds, averaged 44.4 yards per punt last season and was one of only two non-Division I players in the Hula Bowl.

He led Division III in punting in 1995 and ’96.

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The NFL hasn’t exactly knocked down Northridge’s door looking for players, but Matador coaches believe transfer running back Melvin Blue might draw some draft interest next year.

Blue, 6-0 and 230 pounds, impressed Northridge assistant Keith Borges during spring practice.

“He’s very physical and he has a good head on his shoulders,” said Borges, Northridge’s first-year running backs coach. “He’s very muscular and runs the ball with authority.”

Northridge assistant Jeff Kearin said the Pittsburgh Steelers are keeping a close eye on the former Utah State and Carson Banning High standout.

“They consider him a draftable prospect,” Kearin said. “They need to see how [next season] goes.”

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Former Master’s College guard Mike Penberthy is about to conclude his first season with the Hamburg Tigers of the German professional basketball league’s second division.

Penberthy signed with Hamburg in January and helped the team to a 17-5 record.

Staff writer Steve Henson contributed to this notebook.