Ready To Dance
Despite posting records of 37-19 in 1998 and 42-20-1 in 1997, the Cal State Northridge baseball team was snubbed in the postseason, primarily because of its status as an independent.
This year, the NCAA will expand its tournament field from 48 to 64 teams, something the Matadors should appreciate.
But Mike Batesole, beginning his fourth season as Northridge coach, doesn’t see it that way. Which says a lot about last year’s national coach of the year and about the lofty aspirations he has for his program.
“Our goal is not to be a top-64 team,” Batesole said. “We hope to be better than that.
“Geez, being the 64th-best team in the nation? That’s embarrassing.”
Two summers ago, Batesole didn’t even have a team. Baseball was one of four men’s sports cut at Northridge for budget and gender-equity reasons. The sports were restored in August 1997, only a few weeks before the fall semester.
Batesole patched together a roster and a schedule. Top 64? No one counted Northridge among the top 100.
The Matadors’ 12-17 start was expected. The 16-game winning streak that followed wasn’t.
Northridge won 25 of its last 27 games to restore pride to a program that won the Western Athletic Conference title and advanced to the regional finals with a 52-18 record in 1996, the last year the team was in a conference.
The momentum carried into recruiting. Batesole supplemented four returning position players and three returning pitchers with seven freshmen, most of whom could figure prominently.
Add to the mix several promising junior college transfers and the result is a team Batesole believes can break into the national rankings, as Northridge did in each of his first two seasons, when seven Matadors became All-Americans.
The returners are junior catcher Jeremy Sickles, junior first baseman Adrian Mendoza, senior Kevin Patrick and sophomore Eric Horvat. Patrick will move from third base to second and Horvat will be at third after playing left field last season.
All are strong hitters. Patrick batted .359 with 20 doubles and 44 runs batted in; Horvat batted .302 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs; Mendoza batted .291 with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs; and Sickles batted .302 with 36 RBIs.
The outfielders are junior college transfers Jason Watkins (Ventura), Mike Bumstead (Cerritos) and Danny Phillips (Pierce), although Watkins, a speedy center fielder who was All-Western State Conference last season, is out for a month because of a broken finger.
J.T. Stotts, a freshman from Hart High, is the shortstop, which both excites and worries Batesole.
“It’s scary for me to have a freshman at shortstop, but he’s earned it,” he said.
Stotts is the first Northridge shortstop in memory to start as a freshman. Even Adam Kennedy, a Northridge All-American shortstop and first-round draft pick in 1997, played left field as a freshman.
The fact that Stotts’ double-play partner is the steady Patrick comforts Batesole.
“I wouldn’t even try it if K.P. wasn’t there to help him,” Batesole said.
Patrick may have his hands full. In addition to Stotts, several other freshmen will play, especially early in the season.
Jason Gorman (Palmdale High) is a strong hitter who will back up Stotts and Horvat as well as platoon in left field. Tim Arroyo (Kennedy) and Tom Morefield (Chatsworth) are outfielders whose opportunities increased when Watkins was injured.
More freshmen will take the mound. Right-hander Mike Frick (Buena) and left-hander Andy Davidson (Hart) are spot starters and relief pitchers.
“This group will get more opportunities than any freshmen in my six years here as a head coach and assistant,” Batesole said.
The starting rotation is experienced, headed by Jose Vasquez, a previously unheralded senior left-hander who became the staff ace last season, posting a 10-5 record with a 3.84 earned-run average in a team-high 91 innings.
Right-hander Tim Bell, a junior who was 4-0 with a 5.05 ERA in 41 innings, and left-hander Daryl Grant, a junior transfer from Long Beach State, also will start in the Matadors’ season-opening series against San Francisco, which begins today at Northridge.
When not pitching, the multi-talented Grant will play left field or serve as designated hitter.
Right-hander Jim DeBiase, who was 3-2 with a 4.14 ERA in 20 appearances, is an experienced pitcher who can start a game or quell a fire.
DeBiase has plenty of company--Batesole will keep 12 or 13 pitchers, more than in any of his previous seasons.
All of them will be auditioned. Batesole doesn’t like to promise anything, nor does he deny anyone an opportunity.
“Everybody who makes this roster deserves a chance to play,” he said. “With many kids, what they do in practice isn’t what they do in games. Some guys take it to a different level in games and other guys are trying to catch up to game speed.
“I want to experiment with different lineups. I don’t know anything for sure until March.”
Northridge’s 16-game winning streak last season began March 12, about the point Batesole settled on a lineup. Clearly, he believes all good things come with time.
“The biggest thing is being accountable pitch by pitch,” he said. “Whoever wins the most pitches wins the most innings. Whoever wins the most innings wins the most games. Whoever wins the most games has the best season.”
