Thykeson Breaks Pact by Not Breaking 80

Keith Thykeson of Moorpark is happiest when he’s slamming a 300-yard drive off the first tee in front of a packed gallery.

“I thrive on that,� Thykeson said. “I like the added pressure of hitting off the first tee with everybody watching.�

While Thykeson’s consistent play has kept Moorpark atop the Western State Conference golf standings, he won’t fulfill a primary goal. His promise to not shoot in the 80s was broken March 7 when he shot 82 at Simi Hills Golf Course in a WSC tri-match against Ventura and Santa Barbara City College.

“The team expects me to shoot pretty well and I expect it of myself, too,� Thykeson said. “When I told them I shot 82, they all asked me what happened.�

Moorpark Coach Buck Andreasen wasn’t surprised that Thykeson didn’t fulfill his goal.

“He’s an awfully good player, but at times he loses his concentration,� Andreasen said.

Streaking: The College of the Canyons baseball team can set a school record today for most consecutive wins in a season with a victory over Glendale in a Western State Conference game at Canyons.

The Cougars (20-3, 12-0 in conference play) have won 17 games in a row to tie the record they set last year when they also had a 21-game unbeaten streak.

Break in the action: The Cal State Northridge baseball team, which has been on a roll recently, may be encountering the toughest part of its schedule during the next eight days. And the schedule is blank.

Northridge (14-23, 5-7) has won three of its past four California Collegiate Athletic Assn. games, including Tuesday’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills. But the Matadors will not play another game until April 15 when they return to Dominguez Hills.

Northridge Coach Terry Craven is concerned the break might disrupt the team’s momentum.

“It’s too bad we aren’t going to play for a while,� Craven said. “There’s some guys that are hitting the ball well and the pitching has been pretty good.�

Top team: The Cal State Northridge softball team is ranked No. 1 in the most recent National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II poll.

The defending national champion Lady Matadors (35-9) received six first-place votes. Northridge is the only member of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. ranked in the top 10.

On target: Tom Bonds is making accurate throws for the Cal Lutheran baseball team now that he has hung up his football cleats after a record-setting career as the quarterback on the football team.

Bonds threw a perfect strike from right field to catcher Kevin Wynn to prevent Tony Ellis of The Master’s College from scoring the tying run in the sixth inning of an NAIA District III game last week. Ellis was trying to score from second on Eric Beagles’ single to right.

Bonds led off the seventh with a home run to left to give the Kingsmen a 4-3 lead. But the Mustangs rallied for a 6-3 win.

Another one bites the dust: It was an all too familiar sight at Moorpark College when pitcher Dave Raper doubled over in pain on the mound Saturday.

The sophomore right-hander, who suffered a shoulder injury in the fourth inning against Mt. San Jacinto, is the Raiders’ third starting pitcher to be injured this season.

“I’m going to be the starting pitcher in the next game,� Moorpark Coach Ron Stillwell quipped.

Stillwell is awaiting the result of X-rays to determine how long Raper will be out of the lineup.

New coach: Steve Bresnahan, 38, has been named football coach at West Los Angeles College.

West L. A. dropped its program after the 1985 season in the wake of budget cutbacks by the Los Angeles Community College district but will revive its program and compete in the realigned 16-team Western State Conference.

Bresnahan was an assistant last season at Cal State Long Beach.

“It sounds like a good hire for them,� said Valley Coach Chuck Ferrero, whose team also joins the WSC. “He’s been in here recruiting and he’s well-thought of.�

Ready to go: The Cal Lutheran softball team is feeling ready for anything--especially the Golden State Athletic Conference season, which begins in earnest today with a game at Christ College of Irvine.

The Regals (16-10, 4-0 in conference action) play seven of their next nine games against conference opponents.

CLU, ranked 19th in the NAIA, finished with a 3-3 record in the Cal State Northridge Tournament of Champions two weeks ago and has not played since.

Leaders: CLU softball players are among the conference leaders in several categories. The Regals have the lowest team earned-run average in the conference at 1.85. Freshman Leslie Stevens is second in the conference with a 1.38 ERA, sophomore DeeAndra Pilkington is fourth (1.94) and freshman Rosa Jimenez is sixth (2.12).

Jimenez also has the third highest batting average (.365). Pilkington is seventh (.354).

Good luck charm?: CLU softball players are still deciding whether to scrap the use of their good luck charm, a purple stuffed dinosaur the Regals have named Ho, which is short for Holy.

“They’ve won some games with him, and they’ve lost some,� Coach Wendy Olson said, “so they don’t know whether they should keep him or not.�

Buckeye bound?: Malia Ouzts, who leads Moorpark College in hitting, has been offered a scholarship to play softball at Ohio State.

The sophomore catcher visited the campus in Columbus, Ohio, last weekend. Ouzts, who already has visited Cal State Northridge, is also being recruited by Arizona and Creighton.

Going into Wednesday’s game, Ouzts was leading Moorpark in stolen bases (25), batting average (.390), runs scored (24), hits (34) and walks (7). Junior college and high school players cannot be signed before Wednesday.

Staff writers Gary Klein, Ralph Nichols, John Ortega and Lauren Peterson contributed to this notebook.