For Two CSUN Baseball Players, a Simple Crossing Pattern

No coach. No recruiting class to speak of.

Where will the Cal State Northridge football team turn for players? Perhaps the baseball field.

A pair of senior outfielders are considering playing next fall for the heck of it, since their baseball eligibility will have expired.

Jonathan Campbell was the City Section 3-A Division player of the year as a running back at Poly High four years ago. He played football as a Northridge freshman and had 11 carries for 33 yards, then switched to baseball full time.

Josh Smaler was a quarterback at Agoura High who lined up behind Todd Steussie, a first-round draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings last year. Smaler hasn’t played in college.

“We’ve talked about it,” said Smaler, who along with Campbell has another year of classwork remaining before graduating. “It’s something to think about. We won’t have to worry about baseball.”

Northridge is searching for a replacement for Coach Bob Burt, who resigned last month. Consequently, recruiting has come to a standstill. Northridge was 3-7 last fall.

Alas, Smaler adds an aside that makes him fit the profile of all potential Matador players. “I guess we’ll see who the new coach is,” he said.

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Welcome back: It was a long skein for Jason Shanahan.

The Cal State Northridge third baseman, who won the Western Athletic Conference triple crown last season as a junior, hadn’t driven in a run in weeks.

Shanahan singled to drive home Andy Shaw in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 7-5 loss to USC to break a startling drought. Before that, Shanahan hadn’t had a hit or driven in a run with a runner on base in seven games. During the span, 33 teammates were on base in 17 at-bats. During the same seven-game stretch, Shanahan was seven for eight with the bases empty.

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Trivia time: Which Cal State Northridge baseball player won a summer-league batting title last year?

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Early impact: Freshman outfielder Adam Kennedy enters tonight’s game at Fresno State with a 15-game hitting streak, the longest this season by a Matador player. He had some help last Sunday when San Diego State first baseman Jim Rushford lost a pop fly in the sun that fell untouched in foul territory. Kennedy singled on the next pitch for his lone hit in six at-bats.

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Cooling her heels: Lindsay Parker of La Canada High, the hottest softball pitcher in the Rio Hondo League if not the Valley area, will be forced to cool off for about two weeks. The Spartans (10-1) are not scheduled to play again until April 19. Parker is 10-1 with 142 strikeouts and an 0.18 earned-run average in 77 innings.

Why the layoff? League members observe the spring break over the next two weeks and many vacations are planned--including one by La Canada Coach Tom Parker.

Parker, who doubles as Lindsay’s father, will fly to Hawaii for a family vacation. As for Lindsay, she plans to remain at home . . . to practice, no doubt.

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Life on the warning track: If Reseda High’s cheerleaders received wages, they could demand both overtime and hazard pay. While many spirit squads call it a year after basketball season, Reseda’s cheer at varsity softball games.

It’s a dangerous job. The cheerleaders sit on a bench in front of the girls’ locker room about 10 feet from the foul line, with no fence for protection. On Tuesday, Jessica Warner was grazed by an errant warm-up throw to first base.

“It’s really fun,” Warner said. “But balls are always flying straight for our heads.”

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Trivia answer: Josh Smaler hit .391 to win the batting championship for the Wausau Woodchucks of the five-team Northwoods Collegiate League in 1994.

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Puddle jumper: During ESPN’s March 30 telecast of United States Auto Club Western States midget racing from Ventura Raceway, announcer Dave DeSpain displayed a picture taken two weeks earlier of a man paddling a canoe in the track infield, which resembled a lake after a heavy rainfall.

Billy Boat of Phoenix promptly won the 30-lap feature race.

Honors

Gabe Roman and Tom Nelford of Oxnard and Rio Mesa highs were selected wrestlers of the year by the Tri-Counties Wrestling Assn., which chooses an all-star team annually.

Roman (145 pounds), The Times’ regional wrestler of the year, placed third in the state finals in Stockton last month. Nelford (152) placed fifth. Todd Stoke of Rio Mesa was selected coach of the year.

Stats

With 100 stolen bases in its first 10 games, Sylmar High’s softball team might be the Valley’s swiftest and craftiest. The Spartans swiped 23 in one game against Grant last week. The team leader with 24 is Christina Mendoza, who can run from home to first in 2.3 seconds, said Coach Chuck Miller.

“Two coaches have complained that she leaves early,” Miller said. “When you run that fast, nobody can tell if she left early. With a lob pitcher, she’s stolen it by the time the catcher gets the ball, usually.

“I’ve got a lot of speed. Jennifer Brown (10 steals) is one of our slowest players. And we call her ‘Turbo.’ ”

Nicole Greathouse, a pitcher from Buena High, has three no-hitters in her last four starts.

* Compiled by Steve Elling. Contributing: Darin Esper, Jeff Fletcher, Dana Haddad, Vince Kowalick, Paige A. Leech.