WSC Baseball Teams Hope for Clear Skies Today

Rain has wreaked havoc on the Western State Conference baseball tournament, scheduled to begin today and conclude Saturday.

Coach Len Mohney, whose Canyons team was scheduled to play visiting Cerritos today at 2, decided Wednesday the Cougars’ diamond was too soggy. The game has been moved to Cerritos, where the teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 11. The first game would be a makeup game of a South Bay tournament game rained out last week.

“Our field just doesn’t drain like everyone else’s,” Mohney said. “Last year, we went through the whole season without one game being [postponed].”

The tournament’s other first-round games--L.A. City at Valley, East L.A. at Pierce and Harbor at Moorpark--remain scheduled for today at 2, weather permitting.

Valley Coach Chris Johnson said the Monarchs’ field has a lot of standing water but drains well.

“If there is no more rain, we should be fine,” Johnson said. “We have puddles, but we have ways to get them off.”

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Maricela Rodriguez’s layup with three seconds to play gave the Valley women’s basketball team a 60-59 WSC victory over Santa Monica on Jan. 24. A week later, Meresaini Malaki made a basket with 10 seconds left against Glendale and the Monarchs escaped with a 52-51 victory over Glendale.

“We’re living on the edge,” said John Taylor, Valley’s coach. “Our team is pretty emotional and they play like it.”

Last-second heroics have sustained a turnaround for the Monarchs (16-9, 4-1 in conference play), who began the season 3-5. During a 13-4 stretch, Valley has lost twice to Ventura, the state’s top-ranked team, and to Canyons and Cypress.

Rodriguez, a former All-City forward for Lincoln High, was selected WSC player of the week after scoring 36 points and 18 rebounds in two games. Rodriguez averages a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds.

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Mike Batesole can become one of the youngest Division I coaches to reach 100 victories when the Matadors play a three-game series at South Alabama this weekend.

Batesole, 33, is in his third season and has compiled a 98-42 record, including a 4-4 mark this season with a team not expected to do well.

The NCAA does not keep records of most victories by a coach younger than 35, but it is safe to say Batesole is zooming to 100 faster than most coaches. Northridge led the nation with 52 victories in his first season and added 42 last year.

Beating South Alabama, ranked No. 18 by Baseball America, will be difficult, however. Batesole added the series against the Mobile, Ala., school to his schedule while scrambling for games in August after Northridge reinstated baseball.

“I’ve been told it’s very difficult to win there,” Batesole said. “And we haven’t practiced since Sunday because of the weather. This was going to be an important week of practice for us.”

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Brad Foss, a right-hander who sat out last season with an arm injury, has emerged as a closer for Northridge. In four appearances, Foss has a victory and a save, allowing four hits and striking out 10 in 6 2/3 innings.

“Brad’s mentality and makeup are perfect for [a closer],” Batesole said. “It turns out his stuff is good for that too.”

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Michael Rehm, the recently hired Cal State Northridge fund-raiser for athletics, gave a brief summary of his fiscal year plans to the university budget advisory board last week.

Rehm said that beginning next fall, unrestricted gifts to athletics will determine priority seating at games.

“Seats with preferred sight lines will only be available to donors at a certain unrestricted giving level,” Rehm said.

Membership in the Matador Athletic Assn., a booster group, is low, Rehm said, and getting members is an immediate priority.

Rehm suggested making a mailing to all alumni, “due to the publicity of the athletics’ financial situation,” and allowing Northridge employees to use make pledges through payroll deductions.

Staff writers Vince Kowalick and Steve Henson contributed to this notes column.