Matadors Trying to Use January as Springboard

Classrooms will double as rest stops for Cal State Northridge baseball players.

The Matadors have been flying down the fast lane all week, practicing from 8 a.m. until dark. The marathon workouts will continue until the second semester begins Feb. 1.

“Pure baseball every day,” Coach Mike Batesole said. “This is a great time of the year. We’ll go six days a week. I think we might take Sundays off.”

Only in college baseball can January be considered spring training. But the season begins Jan. 22, leaving no time to waste.

Northridge traditionally fields a power-laden lineup able to take advantage of the friendly confines of Matador Field. Batesole vows to find players who can hit the ball as far as the day is long.

Junior college transfers Danny Phillips and Mike Bumstead, both outfielders, and Daryl Grant, a designated hitter and pitcher who transferred from Long Beach State, are newcomers with home run potential.

Returning starters Jeremy Sickles, Adrian Mendoza, Kevin Patrick and Eric Horvat are good hitters with some power.

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Ten months after their last matchup ended in controversy, the Ventura and Valley women’s basketball teams play tonight at 7 in a Western State Conference interdivisional game at Valley.

“They’ve had 340-plus days of motivation behind them,” Coach Ned Mircetic of Ventura said of Valley.

In a game March 3 at Ventura, Valley took a 73-72 lead with nine seconds left. Ventura went the length of the court before losing the ball out of bounds after a scramble.

All of that, the timekeeper figured, took one second.

Ventura used the extra time well, converting two free throws with three seconds remaining for a 74-73 victory.

“Our [players] who returned haven’t forgotten,” Valley Coach John Taylor said.

The game hurt the friendship between Taylor and Mircetic, who head two of the top programs in California. Ventura (15-3) is ranked No. 6 in the state, Valley (11-6) is No. 11.

“We’ve talked a couple of times since [the controversial game],” Taylor said. “We used to talk two or three times a week during basketball season.”

Said Mircetic: “It strained our relationship, but now it’s on the mend.”

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Three years after he puzzled family and friends by transferring from Washington to Portland State, Jason Hartman is being touted as the best player in the Big Sky Conference and an All-American candidate.

Even those who doubted him will be in the stands when the former Thousand Oaks High star plays tonight at Northridge.

The 6-7 senior forward knew Portland State was an odd choice after his situation soured at Washington in 1995-96. The Vikings were in their first year after being dormant since 1981, making the team ineligible for postseason play until this season.

Hartman sat out the 1996-97 season because of the transfer, then averaged 19.3 points in the 22 games he was eligible to play last season when he was selected Big Sky newcomer of the year.

The Vikings (8-3, 1-0) beat Weber State, 82-59, in a Big Sky opener.

Hartman, a deft outside shooter big enough to bang inside, has a 19.9 scoring average.