Matadors’ Whine Is Made From Sour Grapes

The hysteria in the major leagues over the stealing of signs reached the Northridge softball bench last weekend.

Randy Roeder, Matador pitching coach, whined to umpires during a game against Long Beach State on Friday in an NCAA Division I regional at Fresno State that the 49ers were ripping him off.

Roeder calls the pitches by flashing signs to the catcher, who relays them to the pitcher. He complained that someone in the crowd was tipping off the Long Beach batters.

Hey, Coach, trying to steal signs is a tradition. That’s how scrubs pass the time on the bench. That’s how CIA spies are groomed.

Matter of fact, it was a spy who told us you complained to the officials.

Don’t blame some eagle eye for your inability to make the signs theft-proof.

And don’t blame anyone but yourselves for losing, 3-0. Makes you wonder why the 49ers didn’t score more if they knew what the pitchers were serving up.

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Northridge softball Coach Janet Sherman’s post-mortem meltdown after losing to California, 3-2, in nine innings on Saturday, apparently wasn’t pretty.

“[You never] come talk to us when we do well,” Sherman told the media after the Matadors were bounced from the tournament. “You love to write about us when we suck.”

Her comments were directed at a reporter from The Times, who asked Sherman how she could say the Matadors battled when they had only three hits--none in the final five innings--against a pitcher with a 28-20 record.

Sorry, Coach, but inquiring minds begged to know.

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Maybe Sherman can borrow a page from Len Mohney’s book of etiquette.

Mohney, Canyons baseball coach, and his players were classy following two heartbreaking defeats to Cuesta on Sunday in a Southern California Regional.

Canyons needed one victory over Cuesta to reach the state championships this weekend in Fresno, but got swept, losing the first game on a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth.

Mohney made a pitching substitution in the ninth inning of the first game that was later questioned by reporters, including this one, but he calmly explained his thinking and that was it.

No tirades. No tantrums. No tongue-lashing. Only a coach hurting deep inside but handling it with dignity.

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Well, Northridge’s Adam Kennedy wasn’t named national college player of the year but he still gets to wear a mighty big feather in his cap with his selection as Collegiate Baseball’s All-American shortstop.

Many believed UCLA’s Troy Glaus, a likely top pick in the June draft, would get the honor.

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Pepperdine is after him but Canyons shortstop Hiram Damwijk, Western State Conference Southern Division player of the year, might go elsewhere.

The Waves want Damwijk to play second base, something the hard-hitting sophomore from Sylmar High doesn’t want to do.

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It was only a matter of time before someone put Bob Hiegert’s know-how to good use.

By appointing him commissioner on Monday, the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. got the jump on others.

As Northridge athletic director from 1978-95, Hiegert contributed heavily to the growth of the school’s sports program.

He also turned the Matadors into a national baseball power, winning Division II titles in 1970 and 1984.

Hiegert, an associate professor of kinesiology at Northridge, becomes commissioner on July 1.