CS Northridge Makes Different Sort of Pitch

The Cal State Northridge baseball team consists of the usual mixture of scholarship players and walk-ons. And, with continuing state budget cuts, the Matadors will continue to run a rather low-budget operation.

But how many other college baseball squads can boast of their own marketing department?

In an effort to spread word of its success last season--a 44-18-1 record and a national ranking of 10th--and, most important, cash in on those accomplishments, Northridge baseball has taken to the streets and the phone lines.

Under the supervision of assistant Stan Sanchez, Northridge “marketing interns” Eric Hansen and Steve Corley have been calling and visiting local businesses, trying to stir up interest in the Matador baseball team.

Sanchez reports that so far Hansen and Corley have secured five game sponsorships from local businesses, which can choose from three game-day ticket, meal and bonus packages with prices ranging from $550 to $1,700.

The money raised “will help with the costs of having the game, like baseballs and umpires,” Sanchez said. “Basically, what we are trying to do is reach out into the community. We created a booster club and had a phone campaign. We want people to know we’re here, this is our team, and this is what we’ve done.”

Hansen and Corley work nine hours a week canvassing local businesses and working the phone. Sanchez said they also will assist in operations at Matador Field by working in the press box and handling ongoing game-day promotions. For their efforts, they earn class credit.

“It’s all in the name of promoting our program,” Sanchez said. “It is an ongoing process, but this is a start.”

POLL SITTERS

Northridge is ranked 11th in Collegiate Baseball magazine’s preseason poll, but the Matadors are nowhere to be found in Baseball America magazine’s Top 25--much to the bewilderment of Coach Bill Kernen.

“We’re not one of the top 25 teams in the country? I don’t think you could find very many coaches who would agree with that,” Kernen said. “Of course, I don’t think 11th is high enough, so I’m probably not the one to talk to about that.”

LOST: DISCUS THROWER

At 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, John Gallagher was a difficult person to miss on the Cal State Northridge track and field team last season, but the discus thrower unexpectedly vanished about a month ago, according to Northridge Coach Don Strametz.

“We think he and his girlfriend moved back to (Grand Forks) North Dakota to live with his dad,” Strametz said. “But we don’t know exactly why. He didn’t say anything to anyone or leave any notes, and we haven’t heard from him since.”

Strametz learned of Gallagher’s disappearance from his roommates, Ryan Vierra, Jeffrey Dunn and Marc Harisay, all members of the Matador track team.

The trio returned from practice one day in early December to find all of Gallagher’s belongings gone. They telephoned his girlfriend, and her roommates said she and her belongings also were gone.

Gallagher, a 1989 graduate of Palm Desert High, attended USC as a freshman before transferring to Northridge as a sophomore. He ranks fifth on the all-time Northridge list, throwing 175 feet 8 inches last season.

COSTLY SLIP

Cal State Northridge’s collapse against St. Mary’s on Friday prevented the Matadors from ending their road losing streak at 15 games.

With CSUN trailing by one with nine seconds to play, guard Andre Chevalier slipped, fell and was whistled for traveling.

With five seconds to go and CSUN trailing by two, Shelton Boykin could not make a long pass and wound up attempting a final shot behind the half-court line.

For Chevalier, it is a haunting memory. He doesn’t know why he fell. “I don’t know if it was my shoes or the floor that was slippery,” he said. “I almost fell on my head. I cost us a chance to win.”

Chevalier said he will never forget the fall or CSUN’s last offensive play against Northern Arizona when he threw the ball away because of a miscommunication with Keith Gibbs, resulting in another two-point loss.

“Those two games will be in my mind the rest of my career,” Chevalier said. “In those situations the players who get the job done are the ones people respect. I can’t make mistakes like that in the last seconds.”

COMPARED TO WHOM?

After seeing the Northridge basketball team lose to St. Mary’s by two points and Stanford by 21, San Francisco Examiner sports writer Frank Blackman wrote that the Matadors have to be the best 1-12 team in the country.

RAW RECRUIT

David Harbour averaged 27 points a game last season in leading Camarillo High to the second round of the Southern Section playoffs. His role has changed dramatically as a freshman at Stanford where he is known, so far, for his toughness.

“He’s not flashy,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “He doesn’t run exceptionally fast, but one thing I like is that he’s a tough kid. He goes into a pile with his nose flat and two hands. He worries about the consequences later. Early on, we tried to get him into games because of that. Now, it’s hard to get that many people in there.”

In nonconference play, Harbour appeared in seven games for a total of 33 minutes and scored a combined 18 points (five of nine from the field and seven of 10 from the line).

FATIGUE FACTOR

Adam Keefe, Stanford’s All-American basketball candidate, believes the 21-point victory over Northridge could come back to hurt the 8-1 Cardinal from a fatigue standpoint.

“This game is going to come back and haunt us somewhere,” Keefe said. “In a game like this, coach wasn’t looking for me to get 36 minutes and keep me in there that long. I know I was real tired.”

Keefe was taken out of the game with 7 minutes 28 seconds left but after James Morris’ three-point basket cut the Cardinal lead to 14, he was sent back in with 5:18 remaining. With 2:04 to play, he left the game for good.

THE TRUTH HURTS

The scouting report was accurate, but Gibbs took exception anyway.

“The St. Mary’s coaches told (Gael players) I wasn’t a good shooter,” said Gibbs, a swingman who entered the game with a 40% field-goal average and then shot 69% for a season-high 23 points.

“When you get like that you feel like no one can guard you,” Gibbs said. “But I don’t care how well I shot, the basic thing is we lost.”

QUOTEBOOK

Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist, whose Raiders are playing better after a 5-12 start: “You don’t have great triumphs without some great tests. I believe we’ll improve weekly.”

MOVING CLOSER

With only 10 games remaining, the Northridge women’s basketball team (0-16) still is looking for its first win, but the worst appears to be over.

With the UCLA tournament and Nebraska now out of the way, Kim Chandler, the Matadors’ interim coach, said Northridge no longer will be overmatched.

“We should be on a more compatible schedule as far as the size and speed of our opponents,” said Chandler, who assumed the Northridge head coach position Dec. 12. “There haven’t been many games where we have been in a position to win.”

Northridge, which will play host to Loyola Marymount (5-7) today, concludes the season with three games against Southern Utah, two against Cal State Sacramento, and games against San Diego State, Chapman, Nevada and Northern Arizona.

UTAH BOUND

Dave Boghossian, a two-year starter at center for the Glendale football team, has signed a letter of intent to play at Utah next season.

Boghossian (6-1, 280), from Kennedy High, is the fourth Vaquero player to sign with a four-year school.

FRESH FACES

The new year came in like the tide at Cal Lutheran, washing some new names into the starting lineup of the men’s basketball team.

First came Dewayne Chatman, a freshman who was called up from the junior varsity to start against UC San Diego on Dec. 27. Since then, the 6-3 forward has averaged 7.3 points a game.

Coach Mike Dunlap said he had not expected to bring up Chatman to the varsity this season. Those plans changed when Chatman caught Dunlap’s eye during the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference junior varsity tournament, during which he was voted most valuable player.

The emergence of Sydney Thwaites, a 6-2 junior guard who is in his third varsity season, was less surprising. Thwaites made his first start of the season in an exhibition game against Keilor, Australia, on Jan. 2. Thwaites also started at guard in Cal Lutheran’s 90-77 win over Bethany College on Jan. 6, contributing 10 points.

The changes in the lineup have happened of necessity--Kelly Crosby and Mike Fenton missed games in the early season because of injury--and partially in an effort to turn around a losing season. The Kingsmen are 3-7.

Fenton, a 6-6 freshman forward who started three games before being sidelined Dec. 13 because of a stress fracture, might return to the lineup against Loma Linda on Saturday.

Ron Twersky and staff writers Mike Hiserman, Theresa Munoz, John Ortega and Wendy Witherspoon contributed to this notebook.