Batesole’s Bunch Is Remarkable
Cal State Northridge’s baseball team was supposed to be the Bad News Bears of the collegiate ranks. Avoiding embarrassment was its aim, 10 victories its goal.
Instead, the Matadors have risen from the ashes of a canceled program to form a team that offers an inspiring lesson on what is really required to succeed in sports.
Going into a 1 p.m. home game against Albertson College of Idaho today, Northridge has an 8-6 record, a stunning start.
“Cal Poly [San Luis Obispo] is supposed to have one of their best teams and we’ve beaten them twice,” Matador Coach Mike Batesole said. “Loyola Marymount is supposed to be a regional team and we got them. South Alabama may be a World Series team and we beat them.”
Northridge’s program was killed on June 11. Players bailed out as if they were jumping off the Titanic. A public outcry forced baseball’s reinstatement on Aug. 4. By then, most of Northridge’s top players had already transferred.
With only a few weeks to patch together a team before the fall semester began, Batesole sought out individuals who were not afraid to join a program with an uncertain future.
He ended up with 23 players. They were under no illusions about competing for a national championship. They just wanted a chance to play Division I baseball. Batesole came up with a collection of overachievers.
“They’re playing hard,” he said. “That’s the important thing. That’s what has made it fun so far.”
These players are much better than anyone imagined. Darren Dyt, a senior transfer from Fresno State, is an outfielder with speed and immense talent. He’s batting .404 with 14 runs batted in.
Closer Brad Foss, a transfer from East L.A. College, should be pitching for a Pac-10 Southern Division team. He has six saves and a 1.54 earned-run average in eight appearances.
First baseman Adrian Mendoza, a former Royal High standout, has six home runs and is batting .313. Shortstop Nakia Hill, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, is batting .358. Hill has made 13 errors, but he’s a second baseman playing shortstop for the first time.
“The most talent doesn’t always win at this level,” Batesole said. “The best baseball players win at this level.”
While watching the Matadors rout San Luis Obispo earlier this week, I recognized second baseman Chris Martinez of Chaminade sitting in the stands. Martinez, one of the region’s best infielders, signed with San Luis Obispo last November. He could have been a Northridge signee, and so could have El Camino Real first baseman Woody Cliffords, who signed with Pepperdine.
But Northridge wasn’t an option. Not until December did school president Blenda Wilson announce that the baseball program was here to stay.
“There’s a lot of really good players that shouldn’t have gotten away from us,” Batesole said. “I’ve got a pretty good idea I could have gotten those guys. The sooner the kids in the Valley of that caliber--Martinez and Cliffords--start trusting us again, we’ll get it turned around pretty quick.”
For now, the Matadors are doing their best to uphold Northridge’s tradition of baseball excellence.
They won’t win 42 games, like last season, or 52 games, like in 1996. But they are making a coach and a school very proud because of the way they play the game.
“It’s fun to prove people wrong,” Dyt said. . . .
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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.
