CSUN Isn’t Reloading, It’s STARTING OVER

Out with the old, in with the new is an appropriate motto for the Cal State Northridge softball team.

The Matadors, who open the season with a nonconference doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. against Loyola Marymount at Valley College, have only one part-time starter who played with the brassy, hard-hitting bunch that was runner-up to Arizona in the 1994 Women’s College World Series.

Just in the past year, the team has lost nine players--four who ran out of eligibility and five others who quit. Among the seniors last year were slugger Scia Maumausolo, a three-time All-American, and Jen Richardson, a pitcher who was a clutch performer in Northridge’s 43-16 campaign in 1996.

With only 14 players on this season’s roster, this Matador group is smaller in number, but--surprisingly--not in reputation.

Despite the team’s changeover in personnel and a shortage of pitchers--Northridge has only two for a 60-game regular-season schedule--the Matadors are ranked No. 5 by FastPitch World magazine. That’s the highest preseason ranking for Northridge since joining Division I in 1991.

“[It’s] high for what I would expect other people to think of us,” Coach Janet Sherman said.

But in a USA Today coaches’ poll released Thursday, the Matadors were ranked 15th.

Yet Sherman is beaming with confidence despite a schedule that includes nonconference and tournament games against powerhouses Arizona, UCLA, Fresno State and Michigan.

The Matadors were a big hit in the Western Athletic Conference, winning three consecutive titles before finishing second last season. This season, the Matadors debut in the Big West Conference and will have to slug it out with nationally ranked mainstays Cal State Fullerton (40-27 in 1996) and Long Beach State (36-22).

Sherman, in her third season as Matador coach, wants to use the change in conference affiliation as a springboard toward a new era in Northridge softball.

“In the past, we’ve gotten a bad rap . . . as to how we conduct ourselves,” Sherman said. “And I want to make sure we go into the Big West as a classy organization.”

The Matadors, who were 8-4 against Big West teams last year, have five returning starters and four others who saw significant playing time last season.

Sophomore right-hander Tara Glaister, a blazing rise-ball pitcher, is the only returning pitcher. Glaister, who was 22-7 with a 1.31 earned-run average, last year became the first Matador to strike out 200 or more batters since 1983, recording 213.

Glaister will share pitching duties with junior right-hander Cheri Shinn, a transfer from Sacramento City College who was the state JC pitcher of the year last season after leading her team to a state title. In addition, Shinn will bat for herself and play in the field when not pitching.

Right-hander Jackie Pope, a sophomore transfer from Oklahoma State, quit the team for personal reasons in December, leaving the Matadors vulnerable to illness and injury in their rotation.

Platooning at catcher will be senior Jennifer Parker, who started two games in the 1994 World Series, and junior Traci Gallian, who batted .231 in limited action as a designated player last season.

Northridge is solid defensively at the corners with junior first baseman Chelo Lopez and senior third baseman Kelly Toovey.

Lopez batted cleanup behind Maumausolo last season and hit .396 with 42 runs batted in.

Sophomore Katrina Nolletti, a part-time player at second base last year, will handle those duties full-time.

New prospects who have Sherman most excited are sophomore Ashlie Hayes and junior Laura Redding, both shortstops.

Hayes, a Chaminade High graduate, transferred to Northridge after a season at Massachusetts. Redding played with Shinn at Sacramento City the past two seasons and, like her teammate, was a junior college All-American.

Both have explosive bats and will be in the lineup regardless of position, Sherman said.

Senior left fielder Jill Stribling and senior center fielder Jamie Herrington return and will bat first and second. Joining them in the outfield will be senior Shelby Wilcox, who batted .300 in limited action and was the Matadors’ top hitter in regional playoffs last year, going four for eight with four RBIs.